Frank Abagnale

Famed imposter and ex-conman Frank Abagnale is well known for the years of his youth spent disobeying the law, and avoiding the consequences. A chance opportunity with the federal government saw his life dramatically change direction and he is now a leading expert in security, cybercrime, and fraud. Abagnale’s crimes started when he was a young tearaway. At fifteen years old he devised a scheme to deceive his father. From this early scam, his tricks spiralled and he quickly became a mastermind at defrauding banks. Testing the limits of what he could get away with, Abagnale impersonated a pilot to give credibility to his banking fraud. This was the start of a string of high profile impersonations including a physician and an attorney. The game was up in 1969 when he was extradited from Sweden to the United States and placed in federal prison.

During his time in incarceration, Frank Abagnale was offered a deal to work with the federal government and assist in catching white-collar criminals attempting to duplicate his tricks. The fascinating story of Abagnale’s crimes and decision to work with the authorities that caught him were the premise for his 1980 semi-autobiographical book ‘Catch Me If You Can’. Off the back of the success of his book, in 2002 Steven Spielberg directed a critically acclaimed film by the same name.

Aware of the power his scamming abilities held, Abagnale developed Abagnale and Associates, a business that offered education on protecting confidential information and avoiding fraudsters. For over forty years, Abagnale has worked at the FBI Academy, training and lecturing on security. In recent years he continues to do this valuable work as well as conducting international seminars on identity theft, embezzlement, and cyber crimes. As an advocate for blockchain security, Abagnale was chosen as a specialist speaker at the 2018 Blockchain Nation conference in Miami. In 2019 he covered legislative and regulatory issues at the San Francisco Realtors conference in a bid to increase security in real estate and in early 2020 he is booked to speak at the Future of Cyber Security Manchester.

Frank Abagnale has been hailed as one of the world's most famous imposters by The Telegraph but he has also been recognised for his incredible contributions to preventing fraud. In 1998 he was selected as a ‘Pinnacle 400’ member by CNN Financial News; a group of people chosen based on their incredible success in their field. In 2004 Abagnale was selected as a spokesperson for the National Cyber Security Alliance and more than 14,000 agencies have used his fraud prevention programs. As an ex-con turned government advisor, Frank Abagnale has led a fascinating life. For over four decades he has developed and taught his expertise worldwide and his lived experience of the crimes he now tackles makes him a captivating speaker for any event.