Frank Abagnale Quotes Page 2

“If you happen to tell me where you were born, your date of birth and that kind of information, then I'm 98 percent of the way to stealing your identity.”

“If you look at any successful professional – a salesperson, a marketer, a real estate agent, a trader – they all have the same qualities as the con man. The only difference is that one side uses their talents in the right direction and the con man is taking the easy way out.”

“If you took a child in London and took their iPhone and took them somewhere else in the country, they'd probably not be able to find their way back. That's a shame.”

“It is amazing the information we give away. We make it easier and easier for criminals.”

“It's amazing how much information we share in social media, then we wonder why people steal our identity.”

“It's not what a man has but what a man is that's important.”

“It's quite flattering to have Leonardo DiCaprio play you in the movie. He's a great-looking young man.”

“Most people don't reconcile their bank accounts.”

“My proudest moment was probably when my oldest boy finished law school and went on to become an FBI agent. It was just beyond my imagination that – with my background – my own son would become an FBI agent.”

“One thing I've found is that if you educate and show people the risk, they will do something about it.”

“Only one thing makes a man a man. He loves his wife, is faithful to her, and puts his wife and kids as the most important things in life.”

“People have found very significant and simple ways to cheat their employer and get money out of their employers, and many companies lack good internal controls.”

“People say that life is short, but it isn't short. It's very long.”

“Technology breeds crime - it always has and it always will.”

“The biggest thing that concerns me is when we start getting countries using cybercrime to shut down infrastructure, electricity, communications systems, the Internet, et cetera.”

“The front of a cheque alone gives someone enough information to steal your identity.”

“The Internet is a wonderful thing, but it opens the door to many crimes, so you have to stay ahead of it.”

“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.”

“The truth is, your identity already has been stolen.”

“There is no technology today that cannot be defeated by social engineering.”

“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.”

“A con artist’s only weapon is his brain.”

“A man's alter ego is nothing more than his favorite image of himself.”

“Airline pilots are men to be admired and respected. Men to be trusted. Men of means. And you don't expect an airline pilot to be a local resident. Or a check swindler.”

“Almost any fault, sin or crime is considered more leniently if there's a touch of class involved.”

“As the lawyer, I found most of it was a matter of research, which I was great at – that's what I did to death – and then basically persuading people that you're right, and they're wrong... I found that the easiest of all the professions to impersonate.”

“Banks are so protected from liability they would have to really do something that was their mistake in order for them to be liable for it. Banks don't look at signatures. They're processing millions of checks and they have very little liability.”

“Dear dad, you always told me that an honest man has nothing to fear, so I'm trying my best not to be afraid.”

“Had I been older – maybe 25 or 30 – I would have never tried half the things I did because I would have rationalized everything and never did it.”

“I partied in every capital in Europe, basked on all the famous beaches, and good-timed it in South America, the South Seas, the Orient, and the more palatable portions of Africa.”