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Frank Abagnale Jr.
American Security Consultant
Frank William Abagnale Jr. is an American security consultant best known for his history as a former confidence trickster, cheque forger, skilled impostor, and escape artist. He became notorious in the 1960s for successfully passing $2.5 million worth of meticulously forged checks across 26 countries over the course of five years, beginning when he was 16-years-old. In the process, he claimed to have assumed no fewer than eight separate identities, successfully impersonating an airline pilot, a doctor, a Bureau of Prisons agent and a lawyer. He escaped from police custody twice (once from a taxiing airliner and once from a US federal penitentiary), all before he was 21-years-old. Abagnale's life story provided the inspiration for the feature film Catch Me If You Can. He is currently a consultant and lecturer at the academy and field offices for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He also runs Abagnale & Associates, a financial fraud consultancy company.