A biography for Frank Abagnalehasn’t been written yet.
“I think my wife understood from the day I met her how important she was to me and how important it was for me becoming a husband and a father.”
“If I had walked into a dry cleaning store, and I had looked over, and the register drawer was open with money inside, I wouldn't have taken it.”
“We should be very concerned: if identity theft is so simple to do, what's to stop me from entering this country and assuming the identity of someone else for the sole purpose of living here illegally for terrorist reasons? That alone would be a concern.”
“It is amazing the information we give away. We make it easier and easier for criminals.”
“המשטרה לא יכולה להגן על הצרכנים. אנשים צריכים להיות יותר מודעים ומשכילים לגבי גניבת זהות. אתה צריך להיות קצת יותר חכם, קצת יותר פיקח ואין שום דבר רע בלהיות סקפטי. אנחנו חיים בתקופה שבה אם אתה מקל על מישהו לגנוב ממך, מישהו יעשה זאת.”
“טייסי חברת תעופה הם אנשים שיש להעריץ ולכבד. אנשים שאפשר לסמוך עליהם. אנשי אמצעים. ואתה לא מצפה מטייס חברת תעופה להיות תושב מקומי. או נוכל צ'קים.”
“אני לא משתמש בכרטיס חיוב מיידי. הדבר הבטוח ביותר הוא כרטיס אשראי כי אתה משתמש בכסף של הבנק. אם מישהו ניגש למידע שלך, הוא גונב את הכסף של הבנק, לא את שלך.”
“טכנולוגיה מולידה פשע ואנחנו כל הזמן מנסים לפתח טכנולוגיה כדי להישאר צעד אחד לפני האדם שמנסה להשתמש בה לרעה.”
“אין היום טכנולוגיה שאי אפשר להביס אותה על ידי הנדסה חברתית.”
“אם במקרה תגיד לי היכן נולדת, תאריך הלידה שלך וסוג כזה של מידע, אז אני ב־98% מהדרך לגנבת זהותך.”
“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.'”
“We all grow up. Hopefully, we get wiser. Age brings wisdom, and fatherhood changes one's life completely.”
“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.”
“Most people are fascinated by what I did as a teenager, but when I look back at my life, I don't think very much about those years. I was an opportunist and got away with things because I was very young, but I went to prison and came out and remade my life.”
“There's no such thing as a foolproof system. That idea fails to take into account the creativity of fools.”
“You have to be very limited in who you give your social security number to.”
“Why do the Yankees always win? The other team can't stop looking at the pinstripes.”
“If you tell me your name and date of birth, that's all I need to steal your identity.”
“What I did in my youth is hundreds of times easier today. Technology breeds crime.”
“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.”