PRETEND

S1108: The Real Catch Me If You Can part 8 (finale)


Listen Later

On September 12, 2022, Frank Abagnale was honored with a Heroes in Ethics award at Xavier University. An ethics award for a conman!


Unlike the general public, who were spellbound by the myth surrounding Abagnale's life, Xavier University knew precisely who they were honoring that night. They can't claim ignorance because I wrote the University and told them they had the wrong guy. Frank Abagnale doesn't deserve an ethics award. He lied about his entire life story. Was Malala busy that week? She deserves an ethics award. But despite knowing the truth, Xavier University went along with their little ethics ceremony anyway. 


Xavier University's mission is built on moral and ethical responsibility- that's what it says on its website. And out of all the people in the world making a difference, they chose to honor a guy who ripped off his girlfriend and is accused of feeling up college girls pretending to be a doctor-slash pilot recruiter. But, seriously, did they even read this guy's Wikipedia page?

Picture a room full of business students, professors, lawyers, accountants, and even current members of the FBI eagerly awaiting Frank Abagnale's Heroes in Ethics acceptance speech. Little does Frank Abagnale know that Jim Grinstead, host of the Scams and Cons podcast, was in the audience. Jim planned to confront Frank Abagnale during the Q&A portion of the ceremony.


Get Member-only bonus episodes, t-shirts, stickers, and more.

Support PRETEND on Patreon


Listen to ad-free episodes and bonus interviews that didn't make it on the show

Subscribe to PRETEND+ on Apple Podcast

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

PRETENDBy Creative Babble

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

2,266 ratings


More shows like PRETEND

View all
Swindled by A Concerned Citizen

Swindled

9,740 Listeners

Something Was Wrong by Broken Cycle Media | Wondery

Something Was Wrong

25,264 Listeners

Criminal Conduct by Creative Babble

Criminal Conduct

1,063 Listeners

Guru: Don't Cross Kat by Wondery

Guru: Don't Cross Kat

6,986 Listeners

The Binge Cases: Catch Me If You Ken by Sony Music Entertainment

The Binge Cases: Catch Me If You Ken

3,806 Listeners

The Opportunist by PodcastOne

The Opportunist

10,308 Listeners

The Binge Crimes: The Arsonist Next Door by Sony Music Entertainment

The Binge Crimes: The Arsonist Next Door

3,036 Listeners

Queen of the Con by iHeartPodcasts and AYR Media

Queen of the Con

3,538 Listeners

Nobody Should Believe Me by True Story Media

Nobody Should Believe Me

2,593 Listeners

Betrayal: Season 4 by iHeartPodcasts and Glass Podcasts

Betrayal: Season 4

6,894 Listeners

Scamfluencers by Wondery

Scamfluencers

7,066 Listeners

Infamous by Campside Media / Sony Music Entertainment

Infamous

1,063 Listeners

The Con: Kaitlyn's Baby by CBC + BBC World Service

The Con: Kaitlyn's Baby

671 Listeners

The Ponzi Playbook by Neal McTighe and Javier Leiva

The Ponzi Playbook

87 Listeners

You Probably Think This Story’s About You by Brittani Ard

You Probably Think This Story’s About You

1,568 Listeners

Blink | Jake Haendel's Story by Sony Music, Corinne Vien, Jacob Haendel

Blink | Jake Haendel's Story

5,981 Listeners

Scam Factory by Wondery

Scam Factory

361 Listeners