Protecting ourselves and our money: tips from the most elusive ex-scammer

Frank Abagnale is an ex-con artist and fraud expert and bestselling author of Catch Me If You Can. He is one of the world's most respected authorities on fraud, forgery and cybersecurity. Abagnale told CNBChow to protect yourself from fraud.

Every year, millions of American consumers—almost 7% of the population—become victims of fraud. In 2017, the number of fraud victims in the United States reached 16,7 million, and their losses amounted to $16,8 billion.

For over 45 years I have worked, advised the FBI and hundreds of financial institutions, corporations and government agencies around the world to help them deal with fraud.

But my experience began more than 50 years ago in an unusual way: I was one of the world's most famous con artists. Although I am ashamed of the things I did in my youth—cheating, stealing, and hurting people—I am grateful for the opportunity to change myself.

My story, which is described in my 1980 memoirs of the year “Catch Me If You Can,” gave me the opportunity to talk about preventing fraud to a wider audience.

On the subject: What to do if your social security number is stolen

Protecting Your Identity

Identity theft is the intentional use of someone else's identity (e.g., name, address, social security number, bank accounts) to obtain money and loans, obtain employment, steal property, falsify educational and other documents, access health care, and more.

In the worst case, the identity thief depletes your bank accounts, takes your property and uses or sells your confidential information.

In 2017, a young man asked me a question that I hear often: "Given all the advances in computing and technology, is it not harder for today's criminals to steal your identity than it was in the past?"

In response, I told him: "No, this is not harder." In fact, today is about 4000 times lighter than it was then.

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Technology is the best tool for thieves

Thieves love technology because they give them a convenient way to the details of your life.

Think about everything that is available to you with just a few clicks: credit card reports, bank account numbers, personal and family information. It's all there.

You just have to know how to look for it—and scammers are very good at searching for and finding this information. With today's technology, a thief just has to go online, provide the check printing service with his name and account number, mail the checks to a mailbox, and voila, the contents of your checking account go there.

In the 1960s, when I was making counterfeit checks under another person's name—essentially stealing their identity—I needed a four-color printing press, typesetting equipment, and the technical know-how to operate the machines.

Now all I have to do is go to the corporate website, take its logo, and then to the banking website to upload its logo. Then I need to call the billing department of the company whose data I plan to steal, and ask them to write instructions so that I can supposedly transfer the funds that I owe them.

These simple steps will allow me to find out which bank the company uses, and its account number in this bank. Then I go online to access the company's annual report.

And now I have a copy of the signature of the chairman or CEO on the report. I can put it on the checks that I created thanks to the miracle of technology. All this is absolutely reliable down to the last detail (except that the money is not mine, and the check is a fake).

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Do not use a debit card

Want to avoid identity theft? Never, ever use a debit card. I have not it. I have never had one and never will have one. I do not recommend them to anyone - not my family, not my friends, not you.

The debit card is by far the worst financial instrument ever provided to an American consumer. Why? It's simple: every time you use it, you put your money and your bank account at risk.

Use a credit card instead. I use it for almost all of my purchases, even when traveling abroad. With credit cards, federal law limits my liability for unauthorized use of my card.

When I use a credit card, I spend money from the credit card company until I pay my bill at the end of the month. In the meantime, my money in the bank account brings me income.

If there is a big data breach and a criminal somehow got my credit card number and charged $ 1 million, I am protected and my credit card company will cancel the old card and send me a new one within the next few days.

I will not be responsible for any unauthorized purchases. However, if criminals get information about my debit card, I can lose money in my bank account and spend a lot of time recovering it.

Also, keep your use of checks to a minimum and be vigilant about frequent checks of bank statements.

Read also on ForumDaily:

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