Frank Abagnale's 50 Year Relationship with Fraud

Introduction to Frank Abagnale, Fraud, and Check Fraud
Fraud is when trickery is used to gain a dishonest advantage, which is often financial, over another person. It comes in many different forms ranging from financial fraud to pharmacy fraud. Forgery is the creation of a false written document with the intent to defraud.


In the late 1960’s Frank Abagnale was wanted by the FBI for stealing millions of dollars by forging checks and for masquerading as numerous professionals including; a Pan Am pilot, a pediatrician, an assistant Attorney General, and a BYU professor. By the time he was finally caught he was all of 21 years old. Despite everything Abagnale stole and did he was very careful to attack large corporations instead of private people. This isn’t to say fraud doesn’t have a huge impact on corporations but fraud can be devastating for individuals.


Frank Abagnale Now
After 5 years in prison The FBI arranged to shorten Abagnale’s prison sentence if he’d agree to work in their check fraud department. His legitimate life has certainly been different than his teen years. He's been working with the FBI for the past 35 years and he's also started his own business that helps other businesses and corporations prevent fraud. To his credit he paid back every penny he stole in his life as a con artist and made sure each dollar went to the appropriate place. Abagnale is still considered one of the most knowledgeable people on check fraud and he is responsible for the development of the Stanford Uni-ball 207 "forgery proof pen" which can't be touched by any of the chemicals or solvents used to alter writing on checks, check washing. He has written books on his 5 year adventure as well as on how to protect yourself against fraud. The movie "Catch Me If You Can" starring Leonardo DiCaprio was based off of Abagnale's book, and Abagnale frequently speaks about fraud at different events around the U.S. 







Impact of Fraud on Society
In the past few years fraud in society has really changed. The average person doesn't have to worry about the Frank Abagnale's of the world too much, but we should still be concerned about fraud; particularly identity theft and check forgery.

With the advancement of computers and credit cards fraud has become more prevalent than ever. Identity theft has become a large problem, more than ten million people have their identity stolen in the U.S. a year. For perspective ten million people is roughly the population of Belgium. Its very easy for thieves to obtain your information and for them to use it against you; you can be denied a loan or a mortgage, because of identity theft. The Federal Trade Commission defines 6 different ways thieves steal identities; dumpster diving, skimming, phishing, changing your address, pretexting and standard stealing. Simply keeping an eye on your bank and credit card statements can help you reverse the theft quickly in the event your identity is stolen.

Another kind of fraud to watch for is check forgery. Check forgery nearly disappeared for a couple decades, because bleach was the only chemical used in altering checks. Criminals eventually found two dozen compounds capable of removing ink. The Stanford pens have been very effective against this kind of crime, but check forgery is still widespread. Now anyone can cheaply download check writing software and drop the image of someones signature into the signature box. Check forgery is very serious and its a growing issue. It's estimated that Americans loose more than 20 billion dollars a year because of check fraud. This is four times the amount Americans were loosing 18 years ago.

The saddest part about fraud is that it is very rarely prosecuted. As technology advances, the way we protect ourselves must also advance. We must be flexible, and remember that very few thieves repay what they stole as Frank Abagnale did. People have to monitor their finances and protect themselves as best they can, because once their money or identity is stolen chances are it will be very difficult to retrieve.