Hey, this is Todd Stacy and welcome to In the Weeds with Alabama Daily News.

We have a bit of a palate cleanser this week. After 15 straight episodes featuring Alabama officials, we’re having our first non-politician guest.

Some may ask what’s the point of a political podcast having a non political guest, but I assure you this is relevant. When I was talking to Attorney General Steve Marshall for the last episode, he talked about the state’s efforts to combat cyber crime, identity theft, and those super annoying robo calls that we’ve all been getting on our cell phones. Scams are a growing issue, and the other day I got a chance to sit down and ask one of the country’s leading security experts in Frank Abagnale.

That name might sound familiar to you. Frank Abagnale was famously depicted by Leonardo DeCaprio in Stephen Spileberg’s, “Catch Me if You Can.” The film depicts Abagnale’s life as he went from cashing fake checks as a teenager to travelling the world as an airline pilot, running a medical ward as a pediatrician  as a pediatrician, and practicing law as in the Louisiana Attorney General’s office - all without the training or degrees that are required of that. It’s just a really fun movie and one of my favorites. Here’s an audio clip that you’re bound to remember if you’ve seen it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b19_PzyqPLs

That was a totally true scene, by the way, and he describes it some in our interview. Frank was one of the world’s great con men, and after he was caught, he began working for the FBI as a fraud consultant to cut down his prison sentence. That work became a lifelong passion for him and he’s been doing it for 43 years.

Frank Abagnale was in Alabama as part of his work with the AARP Fraud Network and their efforts to help educate citizens on how to avoid getting scammed. They had more than 1,000 people show up to a special event last week in which Abagnale explained how to avoid identity theft and other scams.

According to the Consumer Sentinel Network, Alabama ranks 11th for fraud committed per capita. In 2018 alone there were 33,539 fraud and related cases amounting to $9.9 million in total losses.

13 percent of fraud crimes are identity theft, which can can be credit card fraud, loan or lease fraud, tax related fraud, or others. The 50-69 age group is the most likely to be susceptible to fraud, as it makes up a full 36 percent of all cases.

Now, I’m not even close to that age range, but some of the scams Frank was explaining really concerned me in terms of wanting to make sure my house is in order. And our discussion comes as this FaceApp thing is taking over social media. I spent the weekend with my family, and we all had a riot seeing what we’d look like in 30 years. But when you consider that it’s a Russian-made app, it really gives you pause. I asked Mr. Abagnale about that and I found his response about facial recognition and who buys that information pretty chilling.

Of course, everyone wants to know about the movie and what was true and what wasn’t. The short answer I can give you there is that pretty much all of what he did - the check writing, the pilot stuff, being a doctor and a lawyer - all of that was true. What Spielberg embellished the most was Abagnale’s family, particularly the relationship he had with his father. You can find all that stuff with a simple Google search. I wanted our conversation to be unique. But I will say that the way he talks about his wife and his sons conveys deep gratitude and commitment toward his family that is really admirable.

Mr. Abagnale also co-hosts a podcast sponsored by AARP called “The Perfect Scam,” which I recommend listening to both for good advice about avoiding fraud but also the entertaining stories.

Besides just being really likeable, Frank also exudes a unique patriotism and love for this country that I think is influenced by being given a second chance. He clearly wants his life to be defined by the ways he has helped people rather than the ways he scammed them as a kid, and based on what I saw in Huntsville it’s clear he’s making a big impact for good.

I want to say a special thank you to Evey Owen and AARP Alabama for graciously setting up this interview. Here’s Frank Abagnale, In the Weeds. I hope you enjoy.