Frank Abagnale's Net Worth: From Con Artist to Fraud Expert

Frank Abagnale's Net Worth: From Con Artist to Fraud Expert.

What Is ​​Frank Abagnale's Net Worth?

Frank Abagnale is a well-known American security consultant with a net worth of around $10 million. He gained notoriety as a former check forger and con artist, becoming one of the most famous impostors in history. He claims to have taken on at least eight different identities during his escapades. His incredible life story inspired the movie "Catch Me If You Can," where Leonardo DiCaprio played the role of Frank.

Early Life

Frank Abagnale, originally named Frank William Abagnale Jr., was born on April 27, 1948, in Bronxville, New York. He grew up with a French mother and an Italian American father and spent his early years in New Rochelle, New York. When he was 12, his parents split up, and three years later, after their divorce, he moved to Mount Vernon with his dad.

Before turning 21, he managed to escape from police custody twice. Frank often accompanied his father on business trips, which gave him insight into the world of white-collar crime. As a teenager, he dabbled in minor offenses, but soon escalated to more elaborate schemes.

At just 15, his first target was his own dad. He started his criminal activities by using his father's gas credit card, convincing gas station workers to give him cash back from the sales. This little scam unraveled when his father received the credit card statement. In December 1964, he joined the U.S. Navy but was discharged after only three months and soon found himself arrested for forgery.

The following year, he was caught again for stealing a Ford Mustang from a neighbor in Eureka, California. A local newspaper even featured a photo of him being questioned by an FBI agent while sitting in the stolen car.

Frank hit his criminal stride when he figured out how to write bad checks and impersonate various professionals, from doctors to pilots. This scheme went on until he got caught in France in 1969. He received a four-month sentence but only did three. After that, he was sent to Sweden, where he was found guilty of serious fraud through forgery. Frank spent two months in prison, was banned from Sweden for eight years, and was supposed to pay back his victims, which he never did. In June 1970, he was sent back to the U.S.

Once back in the States, Abagnale started posing as a pilot again, visiting college campuses to recruit flight attendants for Pan Am while cashing bad checks. At the University of Arizona, he pretended to be both a pilot and a doctor, even giving physical exams to female students interested in joining flight crews. His activities caught the FBI's eye when he began forging Pan Am payroll checks across five states.

He was arrested in Georgia in November 1970 after cashing ten fake checks in various towns. After escaping from jail, he was found a few weeks later in New York City. He ended up with a ten-year sentence for forgery and an extra two years for his escape. After serving two years at the Federal Correctional Institution in Petersburg, Virginia, he was paroled. Not wanting to go back to his dad's place in New York, Frank let the court decide where he would live, and they picked Houston, Texas.

After getting out, Abagnale jumped into a bunch of different jobs but ended up getting fired from most of them once people found out he hadn’t mentioned his criminal past. In 1974, he pretended to be a pilot again to land a gig at Camp Manison, a summer camp for kids in Texas, where he got caught stealing cameras from his coworkers.

During this period, Frank also made up a fake resume claiming he had experience with the Los Angeles Police Department and Scotland Yard. It was around this time that he decided to turn his life around—by then, he had a wife and three kids. The family moved to Tulsa and lived in the same house for 25 years.

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Abagnale & Associates

Frank spent over 30 years working undercover for the FBI as a fraud informant before launching his own company, Abagnale & Associates, which focuses on teaching people how to steer clear of fraud. He’s also the author of "The Art of the Steal" and "Stealing Your Life," both centered on fraud prevention.

In 2015, he became the AARP Fraud Watch Ambassador, helping to run online programs and community discussions aimed at educating folks on protecting themselves from identity theft and cybercrime. By 2018, Frank was hosting the AARP podcast "The Perfect Scam."

He’s made quite a few media appearances, including three times on "The Tonight Show," and had a regular spot on the British show "The Secret Cabaret" back in the '90s. His life story inspired the book "Catch Me If You Can," which was adapted into a movie by Steven Spielberg in 2002, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as him. Interestingly, the real Frank Abagnale even made a cameo in the film as a French cop who takes DiCaprio's character into custody.

Personal Life

Frank and his wife, Kelly, are parents to three boys. Once the kids headed off to college, Kelly proposed that they should move away from Tulsa. Now, the couple calls Charleston, South Carolina, their home.

Frank Abagnale, with a net worth of $10 million, is a renowned security consultant and former con artist. His notorious past as a check forger and master of identity theft inspired the movie Catch Me If You Can. After serving prison time, he turned his life around and spent over 30 years working as a fraud informant for the FBI.

He founded Abagnale & Associates, offering fraud prevention advice, and has authored books on the subject. His media appearances, including his role in The Tonight Show and AARP's fraud prevention efforts, solidified his reputation as a fraud expert.