What a Modern "Catch Me If You Can" Might Look Like

by Lewis Robinson

In the 2002 film Catch Me If You Can, Frank Abagnale Jr. makes his living through a series of cons, forgeries and fortunate situations as he pretends to be a pilot for Pan Am, a doctor in Georgia, and a prosecutor in Louisiana. It takes a long time before his crimes even appear on the radar, after which he is pursued by FBI agent Carl Hanratty. Though this movie is based on a true story, the true story itself is a bit questionable. If one were to modernize the film, it would be even more questionable without making some serious changes. Consider what a modern Catch Me If You Can might look like.

Modernizing the Cons

Abagnale started his cons in the 1960s, and there were a lot of different things that he tried, but pretending to be a Pan Am pilot was one of the first incredibly successful ones when it came to making the big bucks. However, there are a lot more screening procedures, and though it might be marginally possible to pretend to be a pilot, it is not likely. One of the most successful modern cons that could be used in the remake would be the spoofing attack. Such attacks are when people pretend to be someone such as a trusted contact or reputable brand to get their victims to give out their personal information. Most of these attacks occur over email, but some of them still occur over the phone, as it is relatively easy to call from a number that is similar to a number in the victim's region. However, if someone wants to initiate an attack via an email, they will need to have fake email accounts and ways to make sure that their attacks do not trace back to them. With many companies using MDR this would be difficult in the modern world. 

The FBI Gets an Upgrade

As con artists evolve, so must the government agents that track them down. While Hanratty was a good FBI agent for his time, Abagnale was able to fool him time and again, even pulling off pretending to be a secret service agent for a while. At the time, Abagnale and Hanratty were evenly matched, and though Abagnale was a genius con artist and later became known as one of the world's leading experts on forgeries, Hanratty was the man that caught Abagnale and even tracked him when he tried to sneak out on another con. 

Since con artists have had to up their game since Abagnale's time, government agencies such as the FBI have had to evolve with them. The white-collar crimes unit has put out all sorts of warnings against common types of modern scams, and they have a lot of resources and hotlines for people to call in the event that they have been scammed.

Harder to Cover the Tracks

If a modern Catch Me If You Can were to be made, it would be harder to cover one's tracks. When Abagnale forged the checks for Pan Am, he was able to do it by carefully transferring stickers from toy airplanes and placing them on the checks, as well as making sure the fonts matched the other payroll checks. He paid intense attention to detail, which is why he was able to copy the checks. However, being detail-oriented and charismatic only gets someone so far. Also, the details get harder and harder to replicate, and it is easier than ever to track someone who commits fraud. Checks and bills have too many security measures now to be replicated successfully without a lot of specialized equipment, making it not really worth the trouble that one would have to go through to have a prayer of pulling off a forgery.

Catch Me If You Can depicted a genius who found his element early in life and continued to do so even after he had been caught and was serving jail time. However, if the film were to be redone through the modern lens, the new Abagnale would need to be even better, more resourceful and more fortunate than the original.