Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Frank Abagnale’s Lies Revealed | The Real Story Behind ‘Catch Me If You Can
06 Dec 2024
Frank Abagnale is one of the most notorious con artists in history and the inspiration behind Steven Spielberg's film Catch Me if You Can, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. He claims that before his 19th birthday, he successfully performed cons worth millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor, and a Louisiana parish prosecutor. But this is a complete embellishment. As Javier Leiva of the Pretend Podcast found out, Frank Abagnale was actually in PRISON while he supposedly carried out these elaborate cons. Javier Leiva is the host of Pretend Podcast https://pretendradio.org/ and can also be found on his new YouTube channel at @PretendPod Javier's Channel https://www.youtube.com/@PretendPod/videos Javier's Website https://pretendradio.org/category/pretend-podcast-con-artist-episodes/the-real-catch-me-if-you-can-frank-abagnale/ Follow me on all socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insidetruecrime/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mattcoxtruecrime Do you want to be a guest? Send me an email here: [email protected] Do you want a custom "con man" painting to shown up at your doorstep every month? Subscribe to my Patreon: https: //www.patreon.com/insidetruecrime Do you want a custom painting done by me? Check out my Etsy Store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/coxpopart Listen to my True Crime Podcasts anywhere: https://anchor.fm/mattcox Check out my true crime books! Shark in the Housing Pool: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0851KBYCF Bent: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BV4GC7TM It's Insanity: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KFYXKK8 Devil Exposed: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TH1WT5G Devil Exposed (The Abridgment): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1070682438 The Program: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0858W4G3K Bailout: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bailout-matthew-cox/1142275402 Dude, Where's My Hand-Grenade?: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXNFHBDF/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1678623676&sr=1-1 Checkout my disturbingly twisted satiric novel! Stranger Danger: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSWQP3WX If you would like to support me directly, I accept donations here: Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/MattCox69 Cashapp: $coxcon69 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
Frank Abagnale didn't do half the things that you did or even any of the things that you did. Nobody was chasing him. When the movie came out, when Catch Me If You Can came out, he was getting speaking gigs every day almost. The guy has made a fortune out of a fake story. But it wasn't... millions of dollars. It was hundreds of dollars with checks using his own name. Okay.
This is not a mastermind criminal.
The problem is, is that Abagnale, like there's, there's nothing backing up his version of the story. Like there's just no real documents. And he's saying things that are completely contradictory to the documents that are out there. Like, Hey, I was here at this time. No, you were in prison at this time.
This guy was a low life kind of small time criminal, you know, like robbing, you know, gas stations and stuff like that. Like there was nothing exciting about his real story. So it is embarrassing to say, Hey, guess what? I was really not this mastermind. con artists, I was really just robbing, you know, this mom and dad from, you know, like stealing their checks.
I mean, yeah, I would be embarrassed too. Before he got married and before he met Stan Redding, these lies didn't exist. It's almost like if somebody helped him create this work of fiction and he's just stuck to it, right? He's just stuck to it for all these years.
Hey, this is Matt Cox and I'm here with Javier Leyva. He is currently doing or has done a podcast on the Frank Abagnale story, which is originally taken from the book. Catch me if you can. And there was a movie made. I think everybody knows Frank Abagnale and the movie catch me if you can. And, um,
Basically, Javier came across my radar and I thought it'd be great since there are so many people that compare my story to like a modern day version of Catch Me If You Can. However... The Catch Me If You Can story really isn't real. Like it's parts of it. So we're going to get into that. We're going to talk about it. Hey, Matthew. Thank you for having me. No problem. Yeah. Thanks for coming.
So listen, before we spoke, I don't know. And a lot of times people get booked through my booking agent and we're talking. And then halfway through the conversation, they suddenly... I'll say something and they'll go, well, you know, maybe I'll say something about my past. And then suddenly they'll go, well, what?
And they'll, and so I don't know if you know this or not, because a lot of times people don't even look into who I am at all, which is great, which is fine. Um, But I don't know if you know this, but I was on the run. Did you know this?
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