Legitimate jobs[edit]

In 1974, after he had served less than five years of his 12-year sentence at Fed
eral Corrections Institute facility in Petersburg, Virginia, the United States f
ederal government released him on the condition that he help the federal authori
ties, without pay, to investigate crimes committed by fraud and scam artists, an
d sign in once a week.[20] Unwilling to return to his family in New York, he lef
t the choice of parole up to the court and it was decided that he would be parol
ed in Texas.
After his release, Abagnale tried numerous jobs, including cook, grocer, and mov
ie projectionist, but he was fired from most of these after it was discovered he
had been hired without revealing his criminal past. Finding these jobs unsatisf
ying, he approached a bank with an offer. He explained to the bank what he had d
one and offered to speak to the bank's staff and show them various tricks that "
paperhangers" use to defraud banks. His offer included the condition that if the
y did not find his speech helpful, they would owe him nothing; otherwise, they w
ould owe him only $500 with an agreement that they would provide his name to oth
er banks.[22] With that, he began a legitimate life as a security consultant.[23
]
He later founded Abagnale & Associates, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma,[23] which advi
ses companies on fraud issues. Abagnale also continues to advise the FBI, with w
hom he has associated for over 35 years, by teaching at the FBI Academy and lect
uring for FBI field offices throughout the country. According to his website, mo
re than 14,000 institutions have adopted Abagnale's fraud prevention programs.[2
4]
Abagnale testified before the US Senate in November 2012 about the vulnerabiliti
es of senior citizens to fraud, particularly stressing the ubiquitous use of Soc
ial Security numbers for identification including on Medicare cards.[25][26][27]
Veracity of claims[edit]
The authenticity of Abagnale's criminal exploits was questioned even before the
publication of Catch Me If You Can. In 1978, after Abagnale had been a featured
speaker at an anti-crime seminar, a San Francisco Chronicle reporter looked into
his assertions. Phone calls to banks, schools, hospitals and other institutions
Abagnale mentioned turned up no evidence of his cons under the aliases he used.
Abagnale's response was that "Due to the embarrassment involved, I doubt if any
one would confirm the information."[28]
In 2002, Abagnale himself addressed the issue of his story's truthfulness with a
statement posted on his company's website which said in part: "I was interviewe
d by the co-writer only about four times. I believe he did a great job of tellin
g the story, but he also over-dramatized and exaggerated some of the story. That
was his style and what the editor wanted. He always reminded me that he was jus
t telling a story and not writing my biography."[29]
Media appearances[edit]
Abagnale appeared on the TV quiz show To Tell the Truth in 1977, along with two
contestants presenting themselves as him.[30][episode needed]
In the 1970s, he also appeared at least three times as a guest on The Tonight Sh
ow, and was interviewed on one occasion by guest host George Carlin.[31][32]
In the early 1990s Abagnale was featured as a recurring guest on the UK televisi
on series The Secret Cabaret, produced by Open Media for Channel 4. The show was
based around magic and illusions with a sinister, almost gothic presentation st
yle, and Abagnale was featured as an expert exposing various confidence tricks.
Abagnale's semi-autobiographic book, Catch Me If You Can, was turned into a movi
e, of the same name, by Steven Spielberg in 2002, featuring actor Leonardo DiCap
rio as Abagnale. The real Abagnale made a cameo appearance in this film as one o
f the French police officers taking DiCaprio into custody. This movie was later
the basis for a musical, of the same name, which opened in 2011 with Aaron Tveit
as Abagnale. The musical received four Tony Award nominations, including one fo
r Best Musical, winning Best Actor In A Musical for Norbert Leo Butz.
In 2007 Abagnale appeared in a short role as a speaker in the BBC TV series The
Real Hustle. He spoke of different scams run by fraudsters.