Book details of 'Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake'

Title	Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake
Author(s)	Stan Redding, Frank W. Abagnale
ISBN	0767905385
Language	English
Publisher	Broadway

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The Virtual Bookcase Reviews of 'Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake':

Reviewer amazon.com wrote:
When this true-crime story first appeared in 1980, it made the New York Times bestseller list within weeks. Two decades later, it's being rereleased in conjunction with a film version produced by DreamWorks. In the space of five years, Frank Abagnale passed $2.5 million in fraudulent checks in every state and 26 foreign countries. He did it by pioneering implausible and brazen scams, such as impersonating a Pan Am pilot (puddle jumping around the world in the cockpit, even taking over the controls). He also played the role of a pediatrician and faked his way into the position of temporary resident supervisor at a hospital in Georgia. Posing as a lawyer, he conned his way into a position in a state attorney general's office, and he taught a semester of college-level sociology with a purloined degree from Columbia University. The kicker is, he was actually a teenage high school dropout. Now an authority on counterfeiting and secure documents, Abagnale tells of his years of impersonations, swindles, and felonies with humor and the kind of confidence that enabled him to pull off his poseur performances. "Modesty is not one of my virtues. At the time, virtue was not one of my virtues," he writes. In fact, he did it all for his overactive libido--he needed money and status to woo the girls. He also loved a challenge and the ego boost that came with playing important men. What's not disclosed in this highly engaging tale is that Abagnale was released from prison after five years on the condition that he help the government write fraud-prevention programs. So, if you're planning to pick up some tips from this highly detailed manifesto on paperhanging, be warned: this master has already foiled you. --Lesley Reed
Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
Frank Abagnale was a con man, specializing in passing fraudulent cheques. Subsequently, he became a consultant on the topic of avoiding cheque swindles. "Catch Me If You Can" is his autobiography, which was recently made into a movie. The first comparison to make is between the movie and the book. Both are equally amusing and engaging. The book is quite readable, and presents Abagnale as a likeable rogue. (Well, what else would you expect from a con man?) Interestingly, both the book and the movie, separately, each have details that the other lacks. The book notes the need for constant study of a field or situation in order to continue to perpetrate a ruse, and to continue to improve on the delivery. The movie demonstrates more examples of social engineering than does the book, such as making the target party complicit by offering them a seemingly unrelated benefit, or using a well-timed compliment to interrupt the process of a security check (since people seldom "re-enter" such a procedure at exactly the same point). The other obvious comparison to make is with the more recently self- proclaimed chief charlatan, Kevin Mitnick, and his "The Art of Deception" (see reviews). Both perpetrated crimes with the help of technology, Mitnick with computers, and Abagnale with cheque forms. Both used social engineering. Both have written books. One difference is that Abagnale's text is more interesting than Mitnick's. "The Art of Deception" has been described as "nineteen chapters of GOTCHA!," and gets tedious very quickly. Abagnale is coy on some points, but is more open and entertaining. Mitnick basically says that people can be fooled: Abagnale examines some of the methods how, and reasons why, and presents at least a few points that can be used to detect and avoid trickery. I would not say that "Catch Me If You Can" is a "must read" for security people, but it is short, amusing, and raises some useful questions in regard to fraud detection adn prevention. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2004
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Book description:

Frank W. Abagnale, alias Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, and Robert Monjo, was one of the most daring con men, forgers, imposters, and escape artists in history. In his brief but notorious criminal career, Abagnale donned a pilot's uniform and copiloted a Pan Am jet, masqueraded as the supervising resident of a hospital, practiced law without a license, passed himself off as a college sociology professor, and cashed over $2.5 million in forged checks, all before he was twenty-one. Known by the police of twenty-six foreign countries and all fifty states as "The Skywayman," Abagnale lived a sumptuous life on the lam-until the law caught up with him. Now recognized as the nation's leading authority on financial foul play, Abagnale is a charming rogue whose hilarious, stranger-than-fiction international escapades, and ingenious escapes-including one from an airplane-make Catch Me If You Can an irresistible tale of deceit.The uproarious, bestselling true story of the world's most sought-after con man currently in development as a DreamWorks feature film."I stole every nickel and blew it on fine threads, luxurious lodgings, fantastic foxes, and other sensual goodies. I partied in every capital in Europe and basked on all the world's most famous beaches."