Frank Abagnale wrote US$2.5 million in bad cheques, practised law without a licence, practised medicine with no medical training, co-piloted a Pan-Am jet with a fake licence, taught at a college though he was actually a high school drop-out, and managed to outwit and outrage the police of 26 foreign countries and every US state, before he turned 21.
Catch Me If You Can is the hilarious, now-classic story of Abagnale's stranger-than-fiction international escapades, and his ingenious escapes - including one from an airplane. This amazing true story of how one man fooled multi-national corporations, banks, universities, hospitals, and law enforcement organisations around the world is utterly riveting, and astounding even today, and contains all the ingredients of the most wildly imaginative fiction (except that all of Abagnale's exploits actually happened).
Stylish, charming and not one to skimp on luxury, Abagnale lived a luxurious life on the lam until his 'retirement' at 21. After conning his way around the world, Frank was jailed and released five years later, only after he agreed to work, unpaid, for the US government sharing his knowledge of fraud with them in order to help them prevent it.
He is now one of the world's foremost experts in secure documents and fraud prevention and travels to Australia regularly in his role as consultant for Leigh-Mardon Australia, the company responsible for design and production of all Australia's secure documents including passports, banknotes, bank cheques, personal cheques, credit cards, drivers licences etc. His bestselling memoir, Catch Me If You Can, was made into a major film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.