He apparently did do some pretty crazy stuff that can be verified. One time he snuck into first class even though he only payed for coach. Another time he tricked the flight attendant into giving him an extra bag of peanuts and another time he snuck an over sized bag on the plane when he was supposed to check it in. They eventually caught up to him and his trickster ways.

@walker4837

Жыл бұрын

Lmao!

@billblaski9523

10 ай бұрын

😅

@thegadflygang5381

5 ай бұрын

I saw that whole 1st Class thing Or was that Seinfeld

Do you mean that his story about being a fraud is itself fraudulent?

@erichunley

Жыл бұрын

Yep. It’s quite meta.

@tupacalypse88

Жыл бұрын

😂😂😂 I ❤ it

@toddroland3203

Жыл бұрын

😂😂😂

@stacyr3743

Жыл бұрын

😂Lol

@peternagy-im4be

Жыл бұрын

He realised that embellishing the story gave him greater exposure thus greater money earning potential. It worked. Essentially he was a small time thief......

Two mice fell into a bucket of cream...

Title for the sequel to "Catch Me If You Can": "Caught Him 'Cause We Could"

Conned people into believing he was a con artist, absolute legend.

When I watched the movie I thought it was pretty unbelievable story, but chalked it up to liberties taken by Spielberg. A good rule of thumb has always been to be skeptical of everything you hear . The scary thing is we are now entering an era where we can’t even trust what we see.

This isn't new to him. He gave a lecture in 1989 or so that I attended for my work. We got curious and began to research his claims. When there was no evidence to support his claims, we contacted him via phone and confronted him. He copt to it right away. He stated the same thing, that he did not write the book and that it was a fictionalized version of his life.

hollywood: based on a true story me in 2000s: wow me in 2020s: really?

I read about Abagnale being a fraud years ago, perhaps in the book by Logan that your guest mentioned. I’ve been surprised that he’s still kicking around peddling his wares. Every once in awhile, when it comes up in conversation, I share that Abagnale’s “story” was mostly a con about being a con.

@BrownEyedGirl1367

Жыл бұрын

Now that I think about it, I was living in Houston when he was there & there was a story in an underground newspaper. I also remember Logan’s book. I was first interested because of Abagnale’s first TV appearances & bought his book. It was a good read at the time.

@samuelblackthorne9122

Жыл бұрын

I read the video headline myself and thought, well isn’t that the point?

@stephjovi

Жыл бұрын

Exactly. It's not like this was just uncovered.

@fyiaustralia9686

8 ай бұрын

Everyone loves a good story. Just look at Uri Geller - he was exposed as a fraud, then his fame took off and lots of people paid to see him perform.

He's an old dog who can't learn new tricks, but his old one are still working for him

I KNEW it!!! Just clicked, haven't even started, but 100% KNEW ever since I saw him talk about his life🕺🥳

I saw him talk at a meeting for school board trustees. He's a very talented story teller.

I just started watching, but I thought him being a fraud was basically his claim to fame.

@erichunley

Жыл бұрын

Yes. It’s crazy

@samuelblackthorne9122

Жыл бұрын

Your calling this lier a lier?

@holdemdang

Жыл бұрын

@@samuelblackthorne9122 Sounds like Frankie is a fraud. Lol

I remember when this was new. As a pilot, I knew it was BS. Didn't bother reading the book or seeing the movie.

@sup1e

Жыл бұрын

The book is entertaining regardless--well worth a read :)

@zac3392

Жыл бұрын

Roger… and don’t call me Shirley.

@linkfreeman1998

5 ай бұрын

Good on ya sir.

I'd love to see a channel that explains how Hollywood distorts the truth. You'd have more material than you could handle.

@MisterRlGHT

Жыл бұрын

Um ... that's already the topic of about a third of all videos on youtube.

Great to see so many people connecting to your Interesting content.

A narcissist's dream - that movie about what could have happened lol!

@erichunley

Жыл бұрын

For sure.

Javier did a good job of flushing out Abagnale.

I'm not even mad, Catch Me If You Can is a hilarious flick 😂 the whole thing about how he passed the bar exam 😂 this is rad tho thank you for covering 🎉

When I was much younger, I worked at Texas Instruments, my roommate and I were home one evening and a nice looking young man knocked at our door he said he was a Doctor sent by Texas Instruments to see how we were doing. My roommate was going to let him in, I said No. I just didn't like the idea that T.I. would be sending anyone to my address. I discovered the next day, he was just some perv going around and some people had actually let him in and he did "give them check ups" . Hard to believe, the nerve of some people.

@charlesk22

Жыл бұрын

Yikes

“Caught You When I Could”

Yikes! I watched Frank since the movie and wondered how you could trust a con man not to con you. Could he really have a transformation to a honest man? Or is he still conning? Not likely. Where are our investigative reporters? I’m still looking for a bridge to buy

This reminds me of Richard Leonard Kuklinski, also known as The Iceman. He was pretending to be this prolific serial killer Hitman & there was a book & movie made about him. It was all a lie.

@erichunley

Жыл бұрын

What, what? I've never heard he lied. I have heard that about Henry Lee Lucas. Can you share a source on that? I want to look into it.

Wow amazing just SUBBED to his podcast thankyou Eric.

Fabulous! I’ll take a listen ❤

Eric, you’re new logo/intro is awesome.

@joinjen3854

Жыл бұрын

Your. You're is you are.

@erichunley

Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

Hollywood romanticizes criminals. Remember Bonnie & Clyde? The Mafia genre of films etc

@erichunley

Жыл бұрын

True

I like how the woman on Javier's podcast who was a former victim confronted him at one of his events. Actually more people need to do that. His net worth is $10 million. It looks like there could be some kind of lien against his estate.

@bob15479

5 ай бұрын

No way he’s only worth $10M…

Wait a minute i read the book and wasted my time twice watching the movie. Wtf one of the most glorious stories is bs and the feds couldn't solve it shocker....lol

@charlesk22

Жыл бұрын

They made a movie to pretend that they figured it out lol

It would be very interesting to have the behavior panel analyze this interview to see if Javier is telling the truth

@PretendPod

Жыл бұрын

I’d like to watch this too 😂

Hello! Andrew Gold sent me to your channel. New subscriber from Texas! 👍🏻🤠

It's interesting how when you tell people he's a fraud and that there is verifiable evidence that proves it some people get SO angry. They WANT to believe his story so badly.

I met him back just before 911 where I worked. He looked like Ben Franklin. My boss said don't laugh he said walked to our back office and dropped a huge thick book on my desk and said he wrote this. It was a book I referenced a few times. It was a book on check and money fraud. He was in town to speak to bankers. I've found his book every where I've worked

@aidanmagill6769

Жыл бұрын

You worked at 911? For Bush or Israel?

I saw Abagnale, in San Francisco on a program called People Are Talking and someone on the show said, "He's a fraud". I think he was on after Frank Abagnale, but I don't remember who he was.

Who fakes committing fraud?

@erichunley

Жыл бұрын

It’s a new one.

This is why I love technology, it puts power in peoples hands and gets rid of the information gatekeepers. Thank you for letting us know what you found in all your hard work.

This was a cool video!

I knew the BR story had to be bs.. but I did think the Publisher and Spelberg would have checked him out.

I’ve seen this a couple places. I wonder why the prison records aren’t shown?

Great guest👍👍👍👍

@erichunley

Жыл бұрын

I agree!

Came to your channel to hear about Scientology cross over w Manson & I'll be darned if I didn't come across this show about Frank! I found his story fascinating. Knew there would be literary license; actually heard Frank say as much following movie when others questioned how much of the Leonardo movie was true. Years later I read a few articles addressing this entire ordeal. Amazing. Another show, Eric, I find contemporary, deals w sociopathy as it relates to lying & of course, you're interested in crime & legal system as am I. Great show once again!! I applaud this young man's dedication to more victims who've not received proper compensation!!👏👏❤️❤️👏👏

@erichunley

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! I’m glad you found it!

Saw him speak at a corporate event- very convincing guy.

Would love to see the real life timeline alongside the FA story timelina.

Subscribed!

Jealousy has its' dangers

My mother really admired Abignale. It occurs to me that he could be a “Puer Aeternus” and also, if you have access to children, you have access to their vulnerable, naive mothers who would regard him as an authority figure.

I actually hired Frank Abagnale to speak to a group several years ago. He was a tremendously warm and personable man, told a very compelling story, received thunderous applause, plus there was not a dry eye in the audience after his speech. Assuming his story is mostly fraudulent [as noted in this interview], kudos to him for selling his stories for as long as he has. I doubt most that have heard him speak would feel that they were "harmed" in any way by his stories, but I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion.....

@erichunley

Жыл бұрын

That's fair if it stopped there. Sadly, he has left several people out of money etc along the way. I really encourage you to listen to the podcast series. This is just a primer. Either way, thanks so much for watching!

@jim8990

Жыл бұрын

@@erichunley Understand Eric, it's sad that Frank did not use some of the speaking fees that he has collected over the years to pay those people back that he had previously defrauded. since it would be the "right" thing to do, maybe sometime his conscience will catch up with him and he'll correct his previous wrongs in life. Great job on the interviews Eric, have been watching you, Viva Frei and several other LawTubers and the insights are always spot-on! 😁 👍

@svogel186

Жыл бұрын

​@@jim8990 He also probably sexually molested several women.

@LABoyko

Жыл бұрын

@Jim. Did you just put "Frank Abagnale" and "conscience" in the same sentence?

@svogel186

Жыл бұрын

The women Frank may have molested were college students who wanted to be stewardesses. He was at a university pretending to be a pilot and a doctor interviewing female students for stewardess positions. He gave the students fake physicals. He also may have molested the future wife of his booking agent. Frank is a great storyteller and a very compelling speaker. He is also a compulsive liar. Almost everything he says about his past is false. You really should listen to the Pretend podcast about Frank to see what type of man Frank really is.

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story,LOL

Saw this video then I listened to Javier’s podcast. “Catch Me if I Con” is the perfect name for an accurate biopic about Abignale’s life.

This guy is very pleased with himself

I never believed Abagnale's story. It's ridiculous. Spielberg went off the rails. Not a great movie. Not a great story.

L. Di Caprio should play F.Abagnale now in a movie called ‘You can catch if you try’ telling the real story of this crook and exposing him to all of us who enjoyed the original Spielberg movie 😂😂😮

A lie gets half way around the world before the truth gets it boots on.

Where can I buy a pilots uniform. 😅

@fredbloggs5902

Жыл бұрын

Asking for a friend? 😂

He should have just been a writer. They are all con men!

@erichunley

Жыл бұрын

Yes but writers at least say it's fiction usually.

Hanks and Leo were great in the film at the time I really wondered about passing the bar exam in LA.

Its not surprising the movie is wrong. What is surprising was all his lies in his Google talk.

....... he never made it out of bootcamp . Do a FOIA request... a persons military service is PUBLIC RECORD.

the FBI needed someone to teach them how to be successful cons.

@Gurn_Blanston

7 ай бұрын

Abignale NEVER worked for or with the FBI in any capacity.

He lives in Isle Of Palms near me in South Carolina. I waited on him when I a server.

For a brief moment. Javier sounds like Christopher Walken at times 😂

I don't give ANY name at Starbucks. I just tell them I don't give my name. They just say ok and make my drink.

When you have to choose between history and legend, print the legend.

I wonder if Abagnale read Harry Harrison's STAINLESS STEEL RAT novels. The protagonist of those novels is a con-man in the future who is ultimately caught and then becomes an agent for an FBI-like future law enforcement agency . . . as I dimly recall, having read those books back in the early '80s, around the same time I read CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (which is a fun read, one has to admit).

@pbxn-3rdx-85percent

Жыл бұрын

I read the Stainless Steel Rat books in high school too. To me he was the space age version of James Bond. What really stuck in my memory was his gadget that could miniaturize big equipment like tanks or artillery and enlarge them again once the Stainless Steel Rat is inside the enemy's turf. I think it's the coolest and the most useful gadget a secret operative could have. Who needs a supply airdrop deep in enemy held territory if you got a warehouse of ordnance.inside your pocket?

After you hear the real story.. it makes so much sense

The children are his hype men. Everyone loves the super hero teacher or helper. Makes him get instant trust

Was Spielberg complicit in the fraud? His film opens with “Based on a true story.”

@erichunley

2 ай бұрын

That is allowable. He didn't say it was a true story but even that can be done. See Fargo.

I watched his interview on the Tonight Show with Carson. His story from that interview doesn't seem to match later ones he tells. He did say often that when he ran away, he never saw his dad again. Strange story. Does he still work for the FBI? Did he really work there for decades?

Hey Hunley...New Subscriber! I would like to know if it's true that the FBI actually hired him to teach security!

Hi @Eric Hunley, this is really informative, I do know someone who ended up in jail for being a "Catch Me If You Can," guy, he went to my church, came from a really sound (rich) family, and his crime really shocked all of us. That said, I am bothered about the language being used when discussing children, although Javier is saying this is not his issue, it sounds like it is. This is very concerning if true ... thoughts?

@erichunley

Жыл бұрын

His behavior is unusual and Javier covers it in the podcast. I am extremely careful though and never want to imply anything more than what has been shown or proven because that is a despicable charge.

@michellematas6532

Жыл бұрын

@@erichunley Agreed and thank you, that's one of those crimes we all need to tread lightly on. Thank you for your great coverage.

Lol in the film at the start his family get evicted n it makes out our hero is doing it all to get his family's money back .. but that theme kinda disappeared didn't it haha.

Getting jobs around kids...you answered your own question. He probably was taking jobs like that knowing there would be plenty of young women involved, mothers and employees.

@erichunley

Жыл бұрын

Could be.

Behavior Panel! Please analyse!

@erichunley

Жыл бұрын

They really don't need too. There's too much evidence.

A scammer who tells the same story almost verbatim time and again. Almost sounds like Ruth Paine. 😊

NAVY?? HE WAS kicked out of bootcamp

Amazing, so he's a remarkable con-man about being a remarkable con-man.

Yep .. i can see the likeness in their Hair styles.

A fake fraudster ?!? I read his book when I was in jail .. loved the detail of using model airplane decals of the Pan Am logo carefully applied to a bum check.

@beastshawnee

Жыл бұрын

The book reads well BUT after watching him speak…I could tell he was lying…I was disappointed…I wanted it to be true..lol.

Well yeah, that’s literally the whole point of the movie.

My Starbucky's name is now going to be--Hunley :)

Oh my G-d! You DID say the UofA…University of Arizona??? 😮

@erichunley

Жыл бұрын

He did.

Just goes to show ... Spielberg ( as great as He is at making movies ) ... does next to little, or no research regarding the actual truth contained within His movies. (why is that!) Surely He is not driven by some sort of agenda? 😅🤣😂

@deejaye2647

Жыл бұрын

He's totally driven by an agenda!

The film definitely added some things that didn’t actually happen

Assume everything is a scam unless otherwise proven, the American way is to get your name out there regardless of how or what the outcome is. Hype is the word and hype has value.

That's 3 for three a actor, producer/director, audience/us that ole frank Hoodwinked!😮

Next you're gonna tell me the Wolf of Wallstreet wasn't an accurate movie

Yup!

Working for FBI is he?… what a fitting ending

@Gurn_Blanston

7 ай бұрын

No. Abignale NEVER worked for or with the FBI.

Shocked 😮🤣🤣🤣🙈

D.B Cooper should have waited view years and came out, he also would have got the red carpet treatment ! Strange world. Interesting, will look at his utube stuff. Nice one Eric, always interesting.

@piesusan17

Жыл бұрын

Infamy is what the play turned film, "Chicago" is all about.

@michaelallen1396

Жыл бұрын

DB Cooper would be going to Federal prison for a very long time, he might be a novelty but rest assured he made a damn fool of the FBI and they won't be forgiving him any time soon.

Such a great story, anyway. At least many realize Hollywood is fiction, many don't. Great movie and fiction.

Amazing.

Years ago when I learn that the movie "Papillon" was not true it effected me deeply as it was suppose to be based on a true story. Now I don't believe most things without major research of my own. A plus for deciphering B.S. in any search for truth but be ready for major disappointment. You have been lied to on epic proportion.

This little cuban tells a great story

interesting. reminds me of finding out rubin carter was actually guilty, apparently..

I'd rather hear about the bare foot bandit

Well yeah... thats the point right?

Where can I access these facts That Javier claims. I always said That story was way way too farfetched. But I would like to see the facts he speaks of if not for how blatant it was

Good stuff! Very interesting. One thing I wanna know for sure is that: Was he ever working for the FBI or not? If that's a lie, well that would be the biggest lie ever from him 🤔..and most disappointing

@PretendPod

Жыл бұрын

I spoke with the FBI and guess what their response was. No, seriously. I'll wait. They could neither confirm nor deny that he works there. Can you believe it? Why won't they just put a stop to this fiasco? BTW, his son really does work for the FBI

@svogel186

Жыл бұрын

He never worked for the FBI. He occasionally spoke for free at the FBI.

@omgthisblowsmuchos

Жыл бұрын

@À StrandC an person get that info from the FBI? What if someone asked about him from that 3 letter organization? Would they answer?🤔

@David-lo1fo

6 ай бұрын

Just watch him appear on Johnny Carson , 80s tonight show?? He doesn't mention anything about working for the The FBI. But Johnny eat up his Story.

@omgthisblowsmuchos

6 ай бұрын

@@David-lo1fo I need to see that!

33:00 He hangs around children? Oh dear, I hope there's not a third level of corruption to this story.