miami.com — Between the ages of 19 and 21, Abagnale cashed $2.5 million in fraudulent checks in every state and 26 foreign countries. He posed as a Pan Am airline pilot, an attorney, a college professor and a pediatrician. Abagnale is now a legitimate multi-millionaire through his legal fraud detection and avoidance consulting business.
Nov 14, 2006 View in Crawl 4
number9ineNov 14, 2006
Frank lives here in Tulsa (his consulting firm is here as well) and he helped design Oklahoma's new driver's licenses. Supposedly they are some of the most secure in the country.
bullyjackNov 14, 2006
@TheWalkingDudeI don't have any links, and I know it sounds cheesey, but sales books that revolve around human behaviour and body language helped me tremendously in the art of manipulation. Also, fixate on the weaknesses in your personality and then feign strength in those areas (exa. lack of confidence). Eventually, you won't have to fake it anymore. You become your outward self.
sh0ckerNov 14, 2006
weren't you warned by paypal that someone was signing in from a foreign IP address?
spiffymanNov 14, 2006
@ chompy"Here he's playing on the fears of the uninformed geezers that he's selling his security products/books to. You're witnessing some of his manipulation in action."It's true that this is not a main method of draining people's bank accounts. He was just trying to show how technology creates possibilites that did not exist before.Most identity theft occurs when someone loses their wallet or purse (where people stupidly carry their Social Security card) or when a relative or close friend uses documents laying around the house. Because of this, I agree that people should guard against the simple stuff before freaking out about teens and their camera phones.More info: <a class="user" href="http://www.fightidentitytheft.com">http://www.fightidentitytheft.com</a>
atomic1fireNov 15, 2006
a person saying all texans are stupidomg how cute
coremanNov 15, 2006
Having seen Frank Abagnale speak about check fraud, the point of the picture is to get the acct number and routing number. There are companies where one can order checks where they will print the information you give them on the check w/o verifying it with the bank. You fudge the routing numbers to force the check to be verified at the FDIC bank in NY instead of San Francisco, where you're buying things currently. You have bought yourself some time to write checks before people are wise to you and you've moved on. Not sure how much time the new check law passed a couple of years ago makes this harder to do, but Frank probably knows...I;'m glad he did something positive with his life...
groberts1980Nov 15, 2006
You sir, are an ass. He succeeded for many years before getting caught, and has spent his entire life since then making amends for his actions in his youth. He has been making public presentations like this for years, and consulting with the FBI to better their fraud prevention tactics. When I was growing up in Tulsa, Frank was a neighbor of ours and a close member of my family. I read his book more than once growing up, and highly respect the man. He is not "reminiscing about the good old days." On a side note, I remember him saying many years ago (in the 80's) that plans for a movie were underway, with Tom Cruise set to play the lead (Tom Cruise in his Top Gun days, not the crazed out Scientology freak we all know now). It didn't come together until the Leo DeCaprio/Tom Hanks movie was made.
groberts1980Nov 15, 2006
The movie was (loosely, I'm sure) based on Frank's autobiography. So yeah, he is real.
kssmMar 30, 2007
Working with Uni-ball and their 207 gel pen, I just wanted to update this entry to include how this pen works to prevent identity theft. The gel ink is formulated to be absorbed into the paper fibers, thus making it impossible to "wash". If you use the pen when signing the entire check/document - you're good to go! Here's the latest from Frank Abagnale and the Uni-ball 207 for Tax Season. Other products and simple tips to help prevent against identity theft.