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 podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Me & We...The Best of Both Worlds