In the past, con men were able to charm people one-on-one with a nice attire, great vocabulary and a likable personality. While they were captivating in person, modern day con artists are anything but that. They work remotely behind computers and in their pajamas, where it’s easy to take everything without any compassion. 

Ex-con man Frank Abagnale, made famous in the movie "Catch Me If You Can," says technology may have changed the ways scammers operate, but it has not changed how scams work. To spot them, there are two red flags that are in almost every scam.

Flag one: Artists will say they need money urgently. Whether it’s money or card information. They often obtain this through a romance scam, where the artists will target those looking for a relationship.

Flag two: Artists will ask for personal information. They will often call or email as a bank fraud agent. By evoking fear into their victims, they can easily obtain the credit card security codes or social security numbers.  

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Back 50 years ago there were con men and that stood for confidence man.

They were well dressed, they had a great vocabulary, they were very likeable person and that's how they swindled you.

The difference today 50 years later is that they're in a kitchen with a cup of coffee on their laptop in their pajamas in Moscow.

So they will take you for everything you have without any compassion whatsoever.

Most people know me from the movie Catch Me If You Can.

You know, between 16 to 21, I'm personally an airline pilot, a doctor, a lawyer.

I wrote 2 and a half million dollars worth of bad checks.

When I was 26 years old, the government offered to take me out of prison on the condition I go to work with an agency of the federal government for the remainder of my sentence, I agreed.

I've been working with the FBI now for about 43 years.

In every scam, no matter how sophisticated or how amateur, there are 2 red flags.

The first red flag is at some point I'm going to ask you to give me money.

You have to give me a credit card right now on the phone.

You have to give me a bank account number.

You have to stay on the phone with me and go down to Walmart and buy a green dot card and then when you get through the cashier, read me the number on the back.

Everything is this moment, and the minute anyone's asking you for money and it's immediate, that's a big red flag.

A perfect example of these romance scams that have doubled in the last 2 or 3 years.

The other red flag is at some point in the conversation, I'm gonna start asking you personal information.

So I may call and say I'm from your bank's fraud department, we detected fraud on your credit card, and I'll have a whole conversation with you, but then before it ends, I'll say to you, now, Mrs.

Jones, just to make sure you actually have your card in your possession, can you turn it over and read the 3 digits to me on the back of the card.

So I'm going to ask you for a social security number, a date of birth, personal information.

You have no idea who's on the other end of that phone.

You never want to part with any money or any information.

Those are the 2 red flags, the most important red flags to remember.


Speaker 0: Back 50 years ago there were con men and that stood for confidence man.

Speaker 1: They were well dressed, they had a great vocabulary, they were very likeable person and that's how they swindled you. But they had to do that 1 on 1. They had to be standing in front of you. The difference today 50 years later is that they're in a kitchen with a cup of coffee on their laptop in their pajamas in Moscow. And that gets very scary.

So they will take you for everything you have without any compassion whatsoever. Most people know me from the movie Catch Me If You Can. You know, between 16 to 21, I'm personally an airline pilot, a doctor, a lawyer. I wrote 2 and a half million dollars worth of bad checks. I was arrested when I was 21 years old.

When I was 26 years old, the government offered to take me out of prison on the condition I go to work with an agency of the federal government for the remainder of my sentence, I agreed. I've been working with the FBI now for about 43 years. In every scam, no matter how sophisticated or how amateur, there are 2 red flags. The first red flag is at some point I'm going to ask you to give me money. And the money has to be immediately.

You have to give me a credit card right now on the phone. You have to give me a bank account number. You have to stay on the phone with me and go down to Walmart and buy a green dot card and then when you get through the cashier, read me the number on the back. Everything is this moment, and the minute anyone's asking you for money and it's immediate, that's a big red flag. A perfect example of these romance scams that have doubled in the last 2 or 3 years.

You never met him. You don't know who he really is. And now he's asking you for

Speaker 0: $35,000.

Speaker 1: The other red flag is at some point in the conversation, I'm gonna start asking you personal information. So I may call and say I'm from your bank's fraud department, we detected fraud on your credit card, and I'll have a whole conversation with you, but then before it ends, I'll say to you, now, Mrs. Jones, just to make sure you actually have your card in your possession, can you turn it over and read the 3 digits to me on the back of the card. So I'm going to ask you for a social security number, a date of birth, personal information. You didn't solicit that call.

You didn't solicit that email. You have no idea who's on the other end of that phone. You never want to part with any money or any information. Those are the 2 red flags, the most important red flags to remember. Thanks for watching.

See you next time.

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Every scam has one of these red flags: Ex-con man Frank Abagnale