Catch Him If You Can

I was at training today learning about credit card fraud and the highlight of an otherwise dull day was a video speech by Frank Abagnale Jr., the master forger turned fraud-fighter on whom Steven Spielberg based his movie Catch Me If You Can, that he had delivered at Discover (the company I work for). I found a speech on You-Tube which is almost the same as the one I saw and I thought I will share it with you (looks like he is also a master forger of his speeches). It is long but it is very interesting and humorous, especially when he talks about some of his early experiences.

An interesting point of debate is whether he would have been as successful in today's hi-tech and secure financial world, with all the fraud prevention guardrails, as he was in the 50's and 60's. My initial verdict is No since his success could be attributed as much to the "trust-all" mentality of the public that prevailed at that time as his own creativity. But a counter-argument could also be , given the fact that Identity Theft and other fraud activities that are still very prevalent, he may have broken the technological barriers and remained successful, albeit for a shorter period.

Nevertheless, it makes one heck of a story!

Russell Peters - Outsourced