Frank W. Abagnale is a man of mystery, deception, and legend. Born in April 1948, he lived with his parents in Bronxville until their divorce in 1964 when he was sixteen. Afterwards, he lived with his father. During his stay, his father gave him his first checkbook, which would eventually take him down a road that ended with himself in four different prisons and having passed $2.5 million worth of bad checks.

The Beginning

In 1964 at age 16, Frank ran away from his father's residence to New York City. When looking for work, he noticed that he was receiving a smaller ammount of pay because of his young age. Since he had always looked older than he was, he altered his driver's license. He added ten years to his age, making himself seem to be a twenty-six year old highschool dropout. He soon figured out that age was not the only factor-being a twenty-six year old dropout still wouldn't bring in the kind of money he needed to survive. He quickly learned that a high school diploma could be faked as easily as a driver's license.

Frank was making $110 a week. It was enough to survive on, but not enough to live on. Always a ladies man, $110 was simply not enough to woo them. Whenever he was low on funds, he would cash a check on his $200 account. It was a reserve he hadn't wanted to tap, so he only cashed $10 or $20 checks at a time, and conducted all such transactions at his bank. He soon realized that stores, hotels, groceres and other buisinesses would cash personal checks if the ammount wasn't too large and indentification was presented. Given this convenience, he was overdrawn on his account within a few days. He was soon writing two or three bad checks daily. He soon quit his job and began to support himself on the bum checks, increasing his standard of living.

He knew that the police were looking for him-not as a runaway, but as a check forger. He knew he'd have to leave New York, although the prospect frightened him. As long as he was in New York, his mother and father were only a phone call and train ride away, and this comforted him. Then, he had a crazy idea-what if he was an airline pilot?

The Many Faces of Frank

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