A. <br>Frank Abagnale, a good looking American boy with more dreams than money, pretended to be first a pilot, then a doctor and then a lawyer. For five years he travelled the world for free, stayed in expensive hotels and had relationships with beautiful women. By the age of twenty-one he had tricked and cheated his way to $2.5 million.<br><br>B. <br>In the golden age of James Bond, Abagnale really was an international man of mystery. He was wanted by the FBI and Interpol in twenty-six countries. His good looks and greying hair helped him, but his charm was his most important tool. He dressed well and everybody believed the stories he made up. Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays Frank Abagnale in the film "Catch me if you can" said, "Frank is one of the greatest actors who has walked the earth."<br><br>C. <br>Abagnale was a lonely child. When his mother, who was French, broke up with his father, a New York shopkeeper, Abagnale had to choose which parent to live with. Instead, aged sixteen, he dropped out of school, ran away from home and began his life as an international trickster. He used magnetic ink to change bank code numbers illegally. He managed to steal $40,000 of their customers' money before the bank worked out what he was doing. He also got a PanAm pilots uniform by saying that his was lost at the dry cleaner's and that he had an urgent flight. This allowed him to stay in any hotel he wanted; PanAm always paid the bill. He even pretended to be a doctor and worked as a hospital administrator for a year. With no formal training, he picked up the skills by reading medical books and watching doctors at work.<br><br>D. <br>Abagnale broke the law repeatedly. He ran out of luck in France, where he spent time in prison, before the FBI finaly caught up with him in the USA. Despite his crimes, Abagnale never had any enemies. Joseph Shea, the FBI man who arrested him and later became his friend, said," I think Frank is close to genius. What he did as a teenager is incredible. His crimes weren't physical. There were no guns, no knives, he just used his brain. He's charming and I admire him. I think he is a good man and a moral character, but like anybody he wants to better himself and in this country, money is the way to do it. He makes $3 million a year and that's a lot more than I ever made."<br><br>E. <br>These days Abagnale doesn't need to trick anybody: he is a successful consultant. He advises companies on security, and he also lectures - for free - at the FBI Academy. Ironically, he has ended up working for the people who were trying to catch him for so long! He wrote his autobiography in 1970s and sold the film rights for $250,000. Abagnale says, "When I was 28 I thought it would be great to have a movie about my life, but when I was 28, like when I was 16, I was egotistical and self-centred. We all grow up." That's true. But not many people grow up like Frank Abagnale.
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