Frank Abagnale
Frank Abagnale
Frank William Abagnale, Jr.is an American security consultant known for his history as a former confidence trickster, check forger, and impostor between the ages of 15 and 21. He became one of the most famous impostors ever, claiming to have assumed no fewer than eight identities, including an airline pilot, a physician, a U.S. Bureau of Prisons agent, and a lawyer. He escaped from police custody twice, before he was 21 years old. He served less than five years in...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCriminal
Date of Birth27 April 1948
CountryUnited States of America
What bothered me most was their lack of style. I learned early that class is universally admired. Almost any fault, sin or crime is considered more leniently if there's a touch of class involved.
I stole every nickel and blew it on fine threads, luxurious lodgings, fantastic foxes, and other sensual goodies. I partied in every capital in Europe and basked on all the world's most famous beaches.
What I did in my youth is hundreds of times easier today. Technology breeds crime.
I don't use a debit card. The safest thing is a credit card because you're using the bank's money. If someone accesses your information, they are stealing the bank's money, not yours.
Dear dad, you always told me that an honest man has nothing to fear, so I'm trying my best not to be afraid.
Whether you're earning $7 an hour or $700,000 a year, it's very important to protect your credit rating.
Every case involving cybercrime that I've been involved in, I've never found a master criminal sitting somewhere in Russia or Hong Kong or Beijing. It always ends up that somebody at the company did something they weren't supposed to do. They read an email, went to a website they weren't supposed to.
In the old days, a con man would be good looking, suave, well dressed, well spoken and presented themselves real well. Those days are gone because it's not necessary. The people committing these crimes are doing them from hundreds of miles away.
Remember what being an adult is: It has nothing to do with money or awards
Former police chief of Houston once said of me: “Frank Abagnale could write a check on toilet paper, drawn on the Confederate States Treasury, sign it ‘U.R. Hooked’ and cash it at any bank in town, using a Hong Kong driver’s license for identification.
When people ask me about being portrayed onscreen by Leonardo DiCaprio, I always say, 'I love it - no matter how old I get, people are going to think that's what I look like.
If you believe you have a foolproof system, you've failed to take into consideration the creativity of fools.
The police can't protect consumers. People need to be more aware and educated about identity theft. You need to be a little bit wiser, a little bit smarter and there's nothing wrong with being skeptical. We live in a time when if you make it easy for someone to steal from you, someone will.
I made a lot of exits through side doors, down fire escapes or over rooftops. I abandoned more wardrobes in the course of five years than most men acquire in a lifetime. I was slipperier than a buttered escargot.