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‘Catch Me If You Can’ conman lied about his lifetime of lies
- ConradKilroy 4y agoI read somewhere that Frank Abagnale Jr. is the father of The Barefoot Bandit (Colton Harris Moore) & US Rep George Santos... Fraud runs in the family.
- IIAOPSW 4y agoSo how did he cheat the Louisiana state Bar?
- notmindthegap 4y ago[flagged]
- solveit 4y agoPeople have looked very hard, and there is not a shred of evidence that Abagnale passed the Louisiana bar exam other than his own claims.
- cal85 4y agoWait, is there not evidence that he practised as a lawyer?
- Rebelgecko 4y agoHe didn't, the lawyer stuff was a fabrication
- IIAOPSW 4y agoJust to be sure everyone gets it I'll come out and say, I'm referencing a minor plot point towards the end of the movie based on him. There's a sequence where the main investigator keeps trying to get him to tell how he cheated the bar and he keeps refusing to say. Later on, as in years later, he finally reveals the trick. "I didn't cheat, I studied it." It seemed fitting given what we now know about how little he actually cheated.
- olivermarks 4y agoAbagale would make a perfect US politician, major league bullshitter who sticks to his stories for gain. https://youtu.be/vsMydMDi3rI https://youtu.be/vsMydMDi3rI
- olivermarks 4y ago[flagged]
- yodon 4y agoFrequently HN readers will downvote comments that don't bother to explain why the viewer should invest time in reading or watching an unexplained link.
- olivermarks 4y agoThat's fair - the link is Abigale speaking at Google in 2017. There's a disclaimer as the first frames of the video but it's still up.
- grogenaut 4y agoAgreed... People also downvote people who just complain about the voting system without reading the basics on "don't talk about voting" in the guide https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html "Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading. "
- unsupp0rted 4y agoThis is the equivalent to that Simpsons joke in which they install a robotic radio DJ that says "looks like those clowns in congress did it again. What a-bunch of clowns" and the guy getting replaced asks "how does it keep up with the news like that?". It's a low-effort drive-by statement so generic as to be practically meaningless.
- legerdemain 4y agoThe story of the janitor who invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos is also either an exaggeration so big as to be meaningless, or a straight-up lie.
- lylejantzi3rd 4y agoSo a pathological liar lied about his pathological lies? I'm shocked!
- ignoramous 4y agoClearly you're lying.
- LeoPanthera 4y agoWell. If he just lied once, about being a pathological liar, then he's not a pathological liar. He just made one very big lie.
- cleanchit 4y agoWhat if he's lying when he said he lied about his pathological lies?
- throwanem 4y agoA true con artist is good at what they do because they believe everything they tell you while they're saying it, which means all the usual signals that someone is lying to you don't fire.
- unsupp0rted 4y agoWhat are the unusual signs to look for in that case? (Other than the obvious, which is "this sounds unrealistic")
- ozim 4y agoBasically there are no unusual signs. There is no trick that gives you information if person is lying that gives out on the spot. As much as pop-culture would like some eye movement or what not. Only thing that gives away lies is cross examination and asking multiple times about the same thing in a slightly different way. After asking 10 or 20 times about the same thing you might see that things don’t add up. It might be easier if you have 2 or more people making stuff up because if you separate them they will lie in a different way. Of course there are also people so bad at lying that will give out at first interrogation…
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- throwanem 4y agoYes, I also enjoy police procedurals.
- latexr 4y ago> After asking 10 or 20 times about the same thing you might see that things don’t add up. After answering 10 or 20 times, even a person telling the truth might start to get confused and doubt their own recollection. Like semantic satiation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_satiation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_satiation
- throwanem 4y ago
- silisili 4y agoGood article, but this was pretty well known and documented for years if not decades. I remember briefly looking it up not too long after having seen the movie, and being disappointed that it was all a big lie.
- aleksandrm 4y agoThis has been known for years. Why are tabloid articles suddenly reposted here?
- WheatMillington 4y agoI'm just learning about it today from this post, which I found fascinating. https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/
- notahacker 4y agoIt being "common knowledge" that 90% of his backstory is fictional and he was actually a pretty low end forger that was frequently caught until he figured lying about the lies he told was a better grift hasn't stopped the tech industry from continuing to fawn all over him as if he's a knowledgeable and inspirational person e.g https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22042279 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22042279 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15793045 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15793045
- jjulius 4y ago>This has been known for years. I used to do this. Still have a strong tendency to, and have to resist it. Everyone's lived experience is different, and I'd wager there is a large percentage of people across the globe alive now who have never, and will never, have any clue about Frank Abagnale and his story. And that's okay.
- agumonkey 4y agoa classic movie and many careers came out of his thin air :)
- diego_moita 4y agoOf course, what makes you famous is how good is your "reality distortion field". No one buys "facts", people buy "stories". Steve Jobs never really invented anything but he knew how to play the role. "The Wolf of Wall Street" also invented most of the stuff in the movie/book but he knew how to play the role. Buffalo Bill was just an exhibitionist showman that never did anything heroic but he knew how to pretend it. And Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, ... Well, you got the idea...
- chasing 4y ago> Steve Jobs never really invented anything but he knew how to play the role. As far as I'm aware, Steve Jobs was, in fact, both the founder and former CEO of Apple. Unless he was pulling one HELLUVA ruse that I was unaware of.
- diego_moita 4y agoMy point is: * He didn't create the Apple II, Wozniak did. * He didn't create the mouse, GUI and Ethernet, the guys at Xerox's Palo Alto research centre did it. * He didn't really create Pixar, bought it from George Lucas. His idea and project was to have the company to make and sell hardware for CG, because that was the only thing he had ever done at Apple & Next. The movie production was an offshot from the demos and the business of creating intros for television shows. * He didn't create the iPhone. In fact Apple's engineers had to pressure him for years before he accepted. What got him accepting the idea was the fiasco on having iTunes into a Nokia phone. * He didn't invent the Appstore. In fact he only accepted the idea of people making apps to the iPhone because 6 months after release the sales were collapsing. Apple was and still is a very smart company. I concede that he was good at surrounding himself with smart people, and taking merit for what those people did.
- another2another 4y agoAnd I don't believe he ever claimed to have. He was however the catalyst that allowed many smart and dedicated engineers to develop the things they did. Giving them drive and direction, money and resources to play with and develop the toys of their dreams. I love the folklore.org website that talks a lot about this. This means he does not fit in your list of fraudster and hucksters.
- Dig1t 4y agoThis reminds me of the story from A Scanner Darkly. One of the characters tells a story about a con artist who was pretending to be a famous con artist. His whole shtick was going around to talk shows recounting how he had played all these outlandish characters and conned people out of all kinds of money, in the end the only character he ever played was that of a con artist. Maybe that story was based on the Catch Me If you Can guy, but I think possibly not because A Scanner Darkly came out before that movie.
- allenu 4y agoApparently the autobiography the movie is based on came out in 1980, so it's totally possible they were referencing Abagnale.
- htag 4y agoThe novel A Scanner Darkly was published in 1977, so while it might have been referencing Abagnale it wasn't referencing the autobiography. Social identity being exaggeratedly fluid is a reoccurring theme in PKD's writing, so the topic fits.
- calderknight 4y agoWas the discussion in the book? I don't recall it.
- jhbadger 4y agoI don't think it is. I remember looking for it in my ebook version when this connection was asked in a previous HN discussion and not finding it. I think it is unique to the movie, even if the idea does have some thematic connections to PKD's ideas. Rumors about Abagnale were circulating long before the movie so it is possible that Linklater was referencing him.
- 2-718-281-828 4y agosounds like a generic idea. also why would dick or linklater have had any knowledge about abagnale being a fake con man?
- zpeti 4y agoI’m pretty sure 90% of the story of the wolf of wall street is complete bullshit, yet it’s sold as an autobiography. I’m waiting for the big reveal.
- foobarbecue 4y agoI read The Greatest Hoax when it came out. Good book. What a creep Abagnale is. The book caught my eye becuase I remember seeing Abagnale give his lectures at Google, thinking, wow, this guy sure doesn't seem like a genius. We are all just gullible.
- cainxinth 4y ago> We are all just gullible. That’s true generally, and especially true when a celebrity is involved. Humans are great liars and terrible lie detectors.
- ip26 4y agoWe also inherently expect most people play by similar rules as we do. For example, we anticipate other people have a conscience and feel bad when others suffer. Our interactions with others are partly based on this. However, for example a psychopath doesn’t experience those things, and therefore can do things that catch us off guard with ease. In short, rogue agents can have a natural leg up when they are able to effectively emulate a behavior model- except here it’s social, instead of military.
- Lapsa 4y agoso a man claiming that he lies all the time turns out to be lying. did I get that correct? :/
- scheeseman486 4y agoEveryone here posting about how it sucks that it turns out he lied about all the cool stuff he did, when the significance and impact of those lies pale in comparison to the societal impact a Steven Spielberg directed film based on those lies had. It just makes it all the more impressive!
- wmf 4y agoHe wrote an apology of sorts in 2002 admitting that the book and movie are not accurate: https://www.abagnale.com/Frank-W-Abagnale-Jr-Film-And-Book-Comments.html https://www.abagnale.com/Frank-W-Abagnale-Jr-Film-And-Book-C... This hasn't stopped him from cashing in on his reputation, however.
- jbverschoor 4y agoWell whaddayaknow, the conman lied :O
- mhoad 4y agoThat story was what first got me interested in the field of security. This is truly the perfect ending to that story for me. Genuine chefs kiss.
- bigbacaloa 4y agoIn the words of the immortal wiseman Flava Flav "don't believe the hype"
- bitwize 4y agoSurprised_pikachu.jpg
- atleastoptimal 4y agoIn a society that prized teamwork and shared goals, he would have been reviled for his exploits. However a lot of Western society (though more American) prizes those who scam and hustle their way to the top, even if they endanger others in the process. We can't help but sit with our mouths open in wonder as the charming con man documents his free-wheeling life we would all wish to live if we only had the gusto.
- tootie 4y agoExactly why I can't understand the appeal of Wolf of Wall Street. I don't understand why it was even made let alone so highly acclaimed.
- joemazerino 4y agoThis is so meta. You can't hate a conman for conning you.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- aaron695 4y ago[dead]
- blippage 4y agoYou don't give a conman your confidence, he gives you his. I saw a clip of a film some time ago (anyone idea of its name?). It has Chazz Palminteri in it. He played a conman. Him and a woman were waiting in a Western union (?) office. They got chatting, and in walks a GI. Chazz's character talks to the GI and starts to con him out of his money. The woman was aware of this. But he stops short of conning the GI. The GI leaves, and he explains how the con works. Chazz and the woman then leave together. The point is that he was playing a long con against the woman and the aborted short con was just a ploy. The moral of the lesson is that if someone reveals themselves to be a liar, then you should take them at their word. Having established themselves as liars, you should never trust them.
- latexr 4y ago> It has Chazz Palminteri in it. He played a conman. You’re thinking of Joe Mantegna in House of Games. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Games https://youtube.com/watch?v=Riy4God934c https://youtube.com/watch?v=Riy4God934c
- blippage 4y agoYeah, that's the one. Thanks for that! I hadn't actually seen the film, only the clip. My memory was vague on it.