0:00 Between 1964 and 1966, a teenager flew over one million miles on Pan Am flights, for free.0:07 He never once bought a ticket.0:09 Last week we looked at audacious plans that were almost perfect.0:14 This week, we have a story where for two full years, the plan didn't just seem perfect...0:21 it WAS.0:22 Imagine the scene.0:23 You're sixteen years old, sitting in the jump seat of a Boeing 747 cockpit at thirty-seven thousand feet.0:32 The captain turns to you, smiles, and says, "You want to take her for a while, Frank?" The real pilots think you're a fellow Pan Am First Officer, deadheading to your next assignment.0:46 They have no idea your name isn't Frank Williams, that your pilot's license is a forgery, and that you learned everything you know about aviation from a single conversation in a hotel lobby.1:01 You smile back, and politely decline.1:04 "No thanks, captain.1:06 I'm just here for the ride." That was the core of the operation.1:11 Frank Abagnale Junior didn't want to fly the plane.1:15 He just wanted the uniform.1:17 The plan began with a simple observation.1:21 Pilots were treated like celebrities.1:24 They cashed checks anywhere, stayed in the best hotels, and commanded instant respect.1:30 So, he decided to become one.1:33 He called Pan Am's purchasing department, claimed he’d lost his uniform, and got the name of their supplier.1:41 He then obtained a blank FAA pilot's license from a print shop.1:46 For his Pan Am ID, he used a photo of himself from a photo booth, a Pan Am model airplane decal, and a typewriter.1:56 It wasn't perfect.1:57 But it was good enough.1:59 Because no one LOOKS that closely at a uniform.2:03 The uniform itself is the credential.2:06 With it, he could "deadhead" — ride for free in the cockpit jump seat to any of Pan Am's twenty-six international destinations.2:16 And to fund this lifestyle?2:18 He perfected check fraud.2:20 He learned that each check had a magnetic ink routing number.2:25 He'd get a stack of real deposit slips from a bank lobby, replace the routing number with his own account number, and then put the slips back.2:36 For days, every deposit made using those slips went straight into HIS account.2:42 He was brilliant, meticulous, and utterly fearless.2:46 But the system always has a flaw.2:49 And sometimes, the flaw is human.2:52 For two years, Frank was a ghost.2:54 A pilot, a doctor in Georgia, a lawyer in Louisiana… always one step ahead.3:00 The authorities were looking for a seasoned criminal, a professional forger.3:06 They weren't looking for a kid.3:09 But the kid got lonely.3:11 In France, he dated an Air France flight attendant.3:15 When he moved on, she didn't forget him.3:18 Later, seeing a wanted poster in an airport, she recognized the face.3:23 She knew where he'd be.3:25 She made a phone call.3:27 The police didn't find him in a lavish hotel or a high-stakes card game.3:33 They found him in a grocery store in Montpellier, France.3:37 He saw them first.3:39 Two plainclothes officers, trying to look casual.3:43 He knew the game was over.3:45 He didn't run.3:46 He just stood there, holding a loaf of bread, and waited for them to walk over.3:52 The con nearly worked because he understood that confidence is a currency all its own.3:59 People believe what you project.4:02 But in the end, the very thing that makes us human — the need for connection — was the one variable he couldn't control.4:11 It was the loose thread that unraveled the entire suit.
