Famous con man explains the easiest way to outsmart scammers
Frank Abagnale, the former con-man that inspired the 2002 Steven Spielberg film "Catch Me If You Can," said fraudsters can easily be outsmarted – all people need is the right tools and mindset.
“Education is the most powerful tool to fighting crime,” the "Scam Me if You Can" author told FOX Business’ Lauren Simonetti on FBN:AM on Thursday. “So I remind people all the time, whether I'm educating FBI agents or bankers or consumers, if you really know the scam, if you know what's going on, you can protect yourself.”
But because people are too trusting, he said, they fall victim to con-artist traps.
“They don't have a deceptive mind,” he said. “So when they get that phone call and the caller I.D. says it's the U.S. Treasury, IRS, Medicare, they assume it is, because no one told them that altering the caller I.D. is very simple to do."
“So it's merely a matter of educating people,” he added.
When it comes to the rise of technology Abignale believes that manufacturers are too concerned with making money than protecting consumers.
“So you have a device in your house you talk to. You ask what time of day it is, what's on T.V. tonight, order me this from Amazon. It's voice activated. So a hacker can easily switch that, then, to listen to everything you say in your house. He can flip your cameras to see everything you're saying in your house,” he explained.
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And as far as passwords go — Abagnale said they are a thing of the past.
“Passwords are for tree houses,” he said. “They're a 1964 technology. They were invented when I was 16 years old. I'm 71, and we're still using passwords. So we are now starting to see the age of no passwords. There’s technology coming now where your phone will identify who you are. And so we're seeing more and more of those passwords going away.”