Perhaps his most brazen con came next. Abagnale forged a Harvard Law transcript, passed the Louisiana bar exam (after several attempts), and got a job in the state attorney general’s office. As a prosecutor, he actually hired other lawyers to do his work while he studied the inner workings of the legal system that was hunting him. The Fall By age 21, Abagnale was wanted by the FBI, which had given him the nickname "The Skywayman." He had cashed over $2.5 million in fraudulent checks in 26 countries (over $15 million today). But his luck ran out in 1969.
After running away from home, Abagnale needed a believable cover. He called Pan Am, pretended to be a pilot from a partner airline, and sweet-talked a clerk into sending him a uniform. Armed with forged identification, he became "Frank Black," First Officer. He spent two years deadheading (flying for free) across the globe, staying in luxury hotels, and cashing expertly forged payroll checks in each new city. He later admitted he never actually flew a plane—he just rode in the jump seat.
Today, Frank Abagnale is a leading authority on forgery, secure documents, and identity theft. He runs Abagnale & Associates, a financial fraud consultancy. He has designed many of the security features now found on checks, including the microprinting and high-resolution watermarks that make them difficult to forge.