The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page A6

6A 2016 E1 INDY STAR CALLNOWTOLEARNYOURBANKRUPTCY TOOMUCHDEBT? NOTENOUGHMONEYTOPAYIT? IS-IND0006072-01 WE Thanks to the Indianapolis Indians, we surpassed our goal to recruit 100 Men in 50 Days! You can still join our team and become a Big today by visiting www.bebigforkids.org. DID IT! While he was in town Thursday, Abagnale had lunch with about 40 people, including Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry, Secretary of State Connie Lawson, staffers from the attorney consumer protection division and IMPD fraud i nvestigators. efore lunch he rented a car and, without fanfare, rove to Greensburg. He said a teacher there had been writing him for about eight years, asking if he would come speak to his students. Abagnale said he appreciated the persistence.

So when he scheduled the trip to Indiana, he went out of his ay to finally grant the request. Speaking to those students who are about the a ge Abagnale was when he went on his now-famous crime spree was a change of pace from his work with the FBI. Abagnale has consulted on sophisticated financial frauds including the En- ron, WorldCom and Tyco cases. He said the agency turns to him on cases difficult to find out how doing Abagnale also works in he private sector, developing technology to help thwart fraud, assisting businesses and financial i nstitutions and part- ering with AARP to rovide education on how people can protect their i dentities and money. I could have done all these things, that Ipaid my debt to society, ame out and was able to do something so positive ith my life; and what, to me, makes America great that you can get up and change your Abagnale said.

sit here and know own son became an FBI agent is just overwhelming to me, and always amazes me every ay that I wake up where I am A mazing. That word, in my opinion, is the ideal way to describe Abagnale. While it was his criminal past that made him amous, he proved there i such as thing as a sec- nd chance. At least, for those willing to work for it. Still, he admitted, even after four decades work- i ng with the FBI, his past i a burden he live ith every I he said, immoral, illegal and Abagnale has been offered pardons from three presidents.

And he has turned them all down. Apiece of paper, he explained, is not a measure of a character. That comes only from actions, a philosophy Abagnale said motivates his decisions every single day of his life. some more rom our conversation last week, in wn words: Question: What do we need to know about scams and fraud? Answer: The biggest oncerns Americans have i about their identity eing stolen. Because of all the breaches and be- ause of all the information people give away of Facebook, stealing identity is a very imple thing to do and, consequently, if I can ecome you, what I can do as you is simply limited to my imagination.

an amazing crime. have a victim every two seconds in the United tates now. It is so easy to do. It is a very simplistic crime to get informa- ion. You just need their ame, their Social Securi- number, and their date of birth and you can become that person.

There are so many ramifications, whether I apply for ax refunds in your name, I apply for credit and et it in your name, it is not that simple to just say, been a victim, that was somebody else id It is very diffi- ult to get it straightened ut once already had someone steal your identity. What do you do with the FBI? When the FBI originally took me out of prison it was to do undercover work. I only had a short obligation to work for the FBI. I have to stay there, it was just part of my parole. And when that time came that my parole was up and I had served the completed part of my sentence I was free of that bligation.

But that was something that I wanted continue to do. I was honored that I was ever asked to be part of it. Crime has changed a lot. When I first went with the FBI, everything I dealt with was involving counterfeiting and forgery and forged checks and hings of that nature. Now, 40 years later, most everything I deal with revolves around cybercrime, and ybertechnology, and software and things that exist back then.

I had to learn and change pace just like everybody else. Every day a new type of crime, and the way crime works, and the way people figure out how to do crime, and certainly technology breeds crime, so had to stay one step ahead. So, is it hopeless? I have found that if ou go out and educate people, and you say these are the things you want to do and this is why, a nd you make it very imple for them to und erstand, smart enough to then go ahead a nd take those steps. just a matter of teaching people to do these things. And once you teach them hey fall victim to these scams.

Tell me about the Frank. Prison rehabilitate me. I was not born a gain. I see the light. I was raised by a good family and a good Catholic school.

I was taught right and wrong, so I was iven those tools and, like a lot of people in life, you ometimes go down the wrong road. But I was very fortunate that I had the rope my parents had given me to reach out and rab that rope and pull yself back. ut until I met my wife and I got married and she married me against the wishes of her parents what really hanged my life. I have a hild and I started to realize the importance of being a good father and a good husband, and that has been the main focus and important thing in my life. I have three beautiful sons, four grandchildren and, as I said, been married to my one-and-only wife going on almost 40 years.

made my life special, always been the main, most important thing in my life. Everything is secondary to that and I hink I am where I am today because of that. Tim Evans is onsumer advocate. Call him at (317) 444-6204. Follow him on Twitter: Abagnale Continued from 3A PHOTO PROVIDED Frank Abagnale speaks about protecting identity and oney.

He was in town Thursday for an education program for the AARP Fraud Watch Network. years later, most everything I deal with revolves around cybercrime, and cybertechnology, and software and things that didn xist back then FRANK ABAGNALE, on how scams and fraud have changed during his time with the FBI See take on informationpeople hareon social media, and his four tips for protecting your identify and money..