Caroline Donahoe l Contra Costa Youth Journalism
Abagnale advised the viewers Sept. 30 on the Lesher Middle for the Arts’ Hofmann Theatre in Walnut Creek that his objective was to tell the general public, as he asserts that prevention, verification and schooling are the perfect methods to guard privateness and keep away from being a sufferer of cyberfraud.
“Education is the most powerful tool to fighting crime,” Abagnale stated merely. “If I can explain to you how the scam works, and you understand the scam, then you will not fall victim to that scam.”
Since being launched from jail 4 a long time in the past, Abagnale has lectured at FBI discipline places of work and the FBI Academy about fraud and cybercrime. He has additionally labored with greater than 14,000 monetary establishments, firms and legislation enforcement businesses about utilizing his fraud-prevention packages. Primarily based on his wealth of expertise, Abagnale started his speech with a basic remark.
“The world is changing all the time, and technology is getting better,” he stated. “Technology breeds crime. It always has and always will. And there will always be people who are willing to use technology in a negative, self-serving way.”
Abagnale stated he has discovered that the one actually efficient technique to keep away from turning into a cybercrime sufferer is prevention. He stated most cyberattacks take about 280 days to even hint, and fewer than 0.05% of cyberattacks ever get prosecuted.
As a result of the percentages of recovering property are so slim, he believes that efforts to keep away from being a sufferer within the first place are essential, particularly because the penalties of cybercrime are so devastating.
“All the money that goes out — billions and billions of dollars for all of these scams, cybercrimes, identity thefts, fraud, embezzlement — all of that money boomerangs back into our society,” Abagnale stated. “But it surely comes again to us within the type of narcotics, weapons, terrorism, human trafficking and baby pornography.
“If we could put a small dent in that number, we’d save a lot of human misery along the way.”
Abagnale supplied a few alarming truths relating to identification theft in recent times. He famous that each two seconds, somebody’s identification is taken and misused. He stated in 2024 alone, 3.6 billion identification information had been compromised and that as we speak greater than 14 billion identification information can be found on the darkish net.
Alarmingly, he warned that as we speak no higher identification theft sufferer exists than a toddler. Abagnale proposed that society must work tougher to construct dependable safety into trendy know-how.
“As I remind people all the time, there is no foolproof system,” Abagnale stated. “If you believe you have a foolproof system, you have failed to take into consideration the creativity of fools.”
Abagnale’s capacity to include humorous twists whereas conveying critical information was noteworthy, as he was in a position to hold the viewers intrigued and set up himself as a reputable supply of data. One takeaway level he needed everybody to pay attention to is the significance of credit score.
“Everything today is based on your credit,” Abagnale stated. “You apply for a job, they check your credit. You apply for auto insurance, they check your credit. You apply for life insurance, they check your credit. So teaching young people the importance of maintaining and having good credit is very, very important.”
He additionally acknowledged that in the case of scams, each rip-off has a crimson flag, and there are two predominant ones. First, he suggested that individuals must be cautious if they’re advised at hand over cash instantly. Second, he claimed that the perfect con males will await you to open the door, making it the simplest job on the planet for them to benefit from a scenario.
Towards the occasion’s finish, he mirrored on his life with moderator Steve Lesher, the Lesher Basis’s board president and govt producer of the sequence. The 2 mentioned the numerous twists and turns of Abagnale’s life, which noticed him flip to crime at age 15, impersonating an airline pilot and cashing unhealthy checks worldwide earlier than spending time in jail in three completely different international locations.
A partly fictionalized autobiography of his life was revealed in 1980 and impressed the 2002 film, “Catch Me if You Can,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Abagnale and Tom Hanks because the FBI agent chasing him.
Abagnale shared his story, assembly the 2 stars and the movie’s director, Steven Spielberg, and residing with DiCaprio for 3 days because the actor ready for the function. Abagnale stated his actions as a youngster negatively affected him for years, even after he turned his life round and his story grew to become well-known.
“Notoriety is one of the worst curses that can be put on an individual,” Abagnale stated.
When Lesher requested Abagnale what recommendation he’d give to his youthful self primarily based on his advanced and interesting previous experiences, he supplied a few easy reminders.
“They tell you that life is short, but the reality is that life is very long,” Abagnale remarked. “Just think before you act. Redemption is very hard to achieve, and people don’t forget mistakes.”
Initially Revealed: October 10, 2025 at 4:50 PM PDT
