WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -Fraud is unfortunately just one charming conversation away says Frank W. Abagnale, the man whose brazen scams are the basis for Steven Spielberg's hit movie Catch Me If You Can. Ironically the same philosophy helped Abagnale successfully cash $2.5 million in fraudulent checks in a dizzying 26 countries while posing as an airline pilot, lawyer, college professor and doctor all between the ages of 16 and 21. Pulling off the scams had a lot to do with the times, opportunity, confidence, attitude and of course the gift of gab. He was caught at the age of 21, served five years in jail, then was released after promising to help law enforcement officials nab other identity thieves. Despite authoring two books, and spending the past 25 years helping thwart fraud in all its forms, Abagnale remains surprisingly humble and he won't see a dime from what is promising to be a blockbuster film which grossed $30 million in its first weekend. In the movie, Abagnale is played by Leonardo DiCaprio and is being chased by an FBI agent played by Tom Hanks. "I sold the book and movie rights 25 years ago, and I am so removed from the ego part of it," said Abagnale. "I am just honored that someone like Spielberg wanted to tell the story. I've seen the movie twice, and Leonardo DiCaprio did great job. He is a fabulous young actor." Now at the age of 54, Abagnale, who is married with three children, has none of the smugness about his earlier escapades that DiCaprio portrays in the film. "I consider my past immoral, unethical and illegal. It is something I am not proud of," said Abagnale. "I am proud that I have been able to turn my life around and have helped corporations and consumers prevent fraud." Regrets over his past career seem to have fueled Abagnale to develop the methods and programs used by more than 14,000 financial institutions, law enforcement agencies and corporations. He is currently working on new training videos that engage viewers and serves as the spokesperson and consultant for Nashville-based Progeny Marketing Solutions, formerly FISI-Madison developing an early detection one-stop credit alert program, which will be available in the early part of 2003. Progeny serves CUs and Abagnale himself may be helping some CUs get a handle on the mind of the scam artist. According to Abagnale, fraud prevention really boils down to education and ethics. "The growing problem has a lot to do with character and ethics that have gone away," said Abagnale. "We live in an extremely unethical society. Ethics are not taught at home or school, so now you have very well educated people with no character to distinguish right from wrong. So until we address the issue of ethics, we'll have a lot more fraud." Simply chatting with Abagnale will leave you shaken up – and if you pay attention hopefully a little bit more savvy about security and fraud. "I tell everyone that amateurs are the only ones who break into computers and databases," said Abagnale. "Professionals only need to `hack' into people." He points out that it would not take too much time to sit outside a branch and get to know an employee. After establishing a relationship it is an easy matter to offer the employee $15,000 cash for simply copying and handing over information about a member. Another "people" approach is to pay someone with a clean record to apply for a job in a financial institution thus providing a limitless source of information. Just the numbers alone are frightening – this year an estimated 700,000 people fell victim to identity theft, which has tripled every year. According to Abagnale, today 22 pieces of personal information ranging from social security numbers and annual salary, to addresses and kids names are easily found on the Internet. "Fraud is booming, costing businesses $400 billion a year-that is more than what we spend on national defense and military salaries," said Abagnale. "The sad truth is that it is rare for these criminals to get caught or to have the money returned, so the only way to prevent it is to try to stay one step ahead." Addressing fraud could be as simple as creating a code of conduct that spells out the levels of ethical belief and conduct the credit union expects all its employees to embrace. As basic as it sounds he says that one step would go a long way to keeping employees honest. Abagnale also advises credit unions to educate and train their employees not just about fraud but what signs of fraud to look for. "What happens at a lot of financial institutions is that tellers learn about fraud and procedures from the person next to them, who may have learned it from someone else," said Abagnale. "The problem is that unless there is a specific training program in place, that front line may not be aware of what to look for in checks before depositing them or how to recognize counterfeit money or how to beat the short change artist and so on." He also advises constantly updating and training the front line making sure they understand the products and services and the newest scams out there. In addition, Abagnale says education should not just be limited to staff but include members as well. "Consumers are thirsty for knowledge about how to protect themselves, and it behooves credit unions to really step up and teach them how to be aware, what steps to take if they are victims and offer products that will protect members from fraud," said Abagnale. "If you deal with education and training so that everyone knows the risks out there, credit unions will be protecting their assets and adding value to membership." [email protected]