Frank William Abagnale Jr. is an American security consultant who became infamous as a conman and imposter in the 1960s. Born in New York amidst very difficult conditions, Frank always wanted to become rich. Performing his first con-job at a tender age of 15, Frank went on to commit more crimes in the coming years. He adopted at least eight identities, conned several people and made a lot of money. He spent 12 months in prison before he was hired by the Federal Government as a security consultant and he continues to work in the position. The Steven Spielberg film ‘Catch me If You Can’ was based on Frank’s life. We have collected best Frank Abagnale quotes on family, life, father, good, joy and bank taken from his speeches, books, and interviews.
I went from 198 pounds to 109 while I was in prison in France, and I had to tie my clothes on with rope.
Frank Abagnale
A lot of times, when I met somebody and took them out on a date, I obviously didn't tell them my background, because I didn't think I'd see them but once or twice.
Had I been older, I would've never been able to pull it off because I would've analyzed it to death. When I was 16, there was no such thing as 'what if.'
I always knew I'd get caught sooner or later. And I knew I would end up going to prison.
Frank Abagnale
I know that people are fascinated by what I did as a teenager, but what I did was immoral, illegal, unethical, and something that I am not proud of - nor will I ever be proud of.
Unlike most divorces, where the children were usually the first to know, my parents were very good about keeping that a secret.
Frank Abagnale
Too many of us are vulnerable, and I look forward to working with AARP to advise people about the safest ways to conduct their financial transactions and manage social media.
Frank Abagnale
I teach ethics at the FBI academy, which is ironic.
Frank Abagnale
I'm glad I'm a draw. People know that, not only am I the guy that did it, I spent 40 years on the other side.
Frank Abagnale
It is amazing the information we give away. We make it easier and easier for criminals.
Frank Abagnale
I have never witnessed, nor will I live long enough to witness, a more simplistic crime than me stealing your identity.
You fight technology with technology, so you have to stay one step ahead of the criminal. It's very much a chess game - they make a move, you have to make a move.
It's about taking the time to research and think things out. Honest people and criminals do the same thing; just the direction, good or bad, is different.
It's amazing how much information we share in social media, then we wonder why people steal our identity.
Frank Abagnale
I didn't sit outside the bank and plan. I just went in and ad libbed because I was so young. But I was smart enough to know I would absolutely get caught.
Frank Abagnale
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.
Christopher Walken and Nathalie Baye played my parents so well that I really thought I was in my living room at Christmas. My mother couldn't have been played more correctly.
Frank Abagnale
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.
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.
Frank Abagnale
I wasn't a Pan Am pilot or any other kind of pilot.
Frank Abagnale
One thing I've found is that if you educate and show people the risk, they will do something about it.
We really need to get control over Social Security numbers. My children's generation, they're past it. But their children should be able to have a number that is secure.
One of the most popular scams is what they call account takeover. You write me a check, and I simply go online to a check-printing service and order 200 checks with your account information.
I spent five years of my youth in prison - some very bad prisons.
Frank Abagnale
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.
Frank Abagnale
When I look back at my life now, I'm not amazed by what I did at 16 to 21.
While I was on an undercover assignment in Texas, I met my wife, Kelly.
Frank Abagnale
I never use debit cards. I only use credit cards. This way, if someone does get my account number... and charges $1 million, by federal law, my liability is zero.
Mostly, cybercriminals are motivated to commit crime for financial gain.
Frank Abagnale
Criminals know that if they stay under certain thresholds, nobody is going to come after them.
Frank Abagnale
I served my time and came out of prison when I was just 26 and have worked with the government for 37 years. But people only remember me for what I did before that.
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's amazing to me that we live in such a wonderful country where anyone can have a problem in life and get up, dust themselves off and start all over again.
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.'
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.
Frank Abagnale
Whether you're earning $7 an hour or $700,000 a year, it's very important to protect your credit rating.
I don't use a debit card. The safest thing is a credit card because you're using the bank's money. If someone accesses your information, they are stealing the bank's money, not yours.
I'm a true believer that you have a moral obligation to keep your employees honest, and that is why you have controls, so I'm never tempted or put in a position where I could do something to defraud my employer.
Why do the Yankees always win? The other team can't stop looking at the pinstripes.
Frank Abagnale
What I did in my youth is hundreds of times easier today. Technology breeds crime.
Frank Abagnale
I don't do online banking.
Frank Abagnale
In all the years I've taught at the FBI Academy, I've only seen crime get easier, faster, and harder to detect.
Frank Abagnale
I speak at a lot of universities, and people are always worried about Facebook, and when I explain how to use it properly, they immediately go back and make those changes.
Frank Abagnale
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.
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.
We're coming down to an extremely unethical society. Very few colleges offer courses in ethics, and very few companies have a code of conduct or code of ethics.
Frank Abagnale
By the time I had reached the age of 16, in the 10th grade, my parents, after 22 years of marriage, one day decided to get a divorce.
Every breach you look at occurred because somebody inside did something they weren't supposed to do. Sometimes there's an accomplice, but most of the time, it's innocent.
The front of a cheque alone gives someone enough information to steal your identity.
Frank Abagnale
I was just a guy who ran away from home at 16 because my parents were getting a divorce and the judge was making me choose which parent to live with. I didn't want to make that choice. I ended up in New York City.
A real man loves and respects his wife and is not only a good father but a man that his kids want to call 'Daddy.'
Frank Abagnale
A real man loves his wife, and places his family as the most important thing in life. Nothing has brought me more peace and content in life than simply being a good husband and father.
I have to be honest with you: When the FBI let me out of prison early to advise the agency on preventing fraud, I wasn't a changed person. I wasn't rehabilitated. But when I started working with the FBI, one of the most ethical groups of men and women in the world, I couldn't help but have some of that character rub off on me.
