The Art of the Steal: How to Recognize and Prevent Fraud--America's #1 Crime (Hardcover)

by Frank W. Abagnale (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Author Frank W. Abagnale knows something about fraud--he once committed it for a living. "Through my various hustles, I passed something like $2.5 million worth of checks, a blizzard of paper that I scattered in earnest throughout all fifty states and twenty-six countries, all before I was legally allowed to drink," he writes. "I was proficient enough at cashing fraudulent checks that I earned the distinction of becoming one of the most hunted criminals by the FBI." Abagnale was ultimately caught, and he served prison sentences in France, Sweden, and the United States. In the 25 years since his release, Abagnale (who also wrote Catch Me If You Can) has become a leading consultant on fraud prevention.

"I'm still a con artist. I'm just putting down a positive con these days, as opposed to the negative con I used in the past," he explains. "I've applied the same relentless attention to working on stopping fraud that I once applied to perpetrating fraud." His expertise comes in handy: businesses lose an estimated $400 billion each year to fraud. The stories Abagnale tells in The Art of the Steal provide fascinating glimpses of a criminal underworld. He describes "shoulder surfers" who rip off bank customers at ATMs by videotaping their fingers as they enter PIN numbers, retrieving receipts from wastebaskets, and then creating fake credit cards--all rather inexpensively. Whole sections of the book almost read like a how-to manual for aspiring thieves, though Abagnale has other motives. Throughout, he offers sensible advice on how to foil the con artists. Much of this is common sense (cut up credit cards when they expire), but some of his suggestions aren't so obvious. He warns readers not to write checks to the "IRS," for instance: "Envelopes to the IRS are common targets because of where they're going." Instead, checks should be made out to the "Internal Revenue Service," because criminals can turn the "I" of "IRS" into an "M," and turn a tax payment into a gift for "MRS." Smith. The chapter on the emerging problem of identity theft--with its tips on how to keep Social Security numbers private--is especially helpful. In all, The Art of the Steal is captivating and useful. --John Miller

From Library Journal
Former criminal imposter Abagnale (Catch Me If You Can) has been a security consultant to industry and the FBI for over 25 years. This detailed and well-written book describes many types of scams, including those involving forged checks, stolen mail, and phony credit cards. After discussing each scam, the author advises on how to avoid it and offers photos to illustrate his points. For example, he will not use a bank that will not give him back his canceled checks. He shreds all financial documents, including unsolicited credit card applications, and he checks his credit reports several times a year using two different services. The book has more of a business orientation than Kevin McKeown's Your Secrets Are My Business (LJ 10/1/99). However, McKeown covered topics such as caller ID and computer "cookies," while Abagnale skips these areas, concentrating on secure documents, counterfeit goods, and Internet fraud. The books complement each other and should be read together. For future editions, the author should tell readers how to order their credit reports, discover errors, and report fraud. A useful work on business and personal privacy. Harry Charles, Attorney at Law, St. Louis, MO
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (October 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767906837
• ISBN-13: 978-0767906838
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #616,437 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From the horses mouth, July 23, 2003

By	"skittery99" (Denver, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of the Steal: How to Protect Yourself and Your Business from Fraud, America's #1 Crime (Paperback)

The Art of the Steal by Frank W. Abagnale is a must have for anyone with money. Abagnale, recently of "Catch Me If You Can" movie fame, was one of the youngest and most successful con-men of our time. After serving time and leaving the dark side for good, Abagnale reformed into the anti-criminal. This book uncovers the world's most common scams and describes ways to prevent them. The key word here is prevention.

Among the frauds that Abagnale describes are: credit card fraud, check fraud, embezzlement, counterfeit fraud, ATM fraud, brand-name fraud, and for all of you reading this, Internet fraud. He also discusses Indentity theft as the most important fraudulent trend of the 21st century.

I particulary enjoyed the dry and often humorous tone of this book. It is so typical of Abagnale. If I had one complaint about the book it would be that there were not enough preventive measures discussed. I wanted more.

Did this book change the way I live my life? Absolutely. I have changed many of my practices to help prevent fraud in my daily dealings. A book that can motivate someone to do that, has to have value. When it comes down to preventing fraud, knowledge is key. I therefore recommend this book to all. May we become smarter, more aware, and minimize the impact of fraud in our lives.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Introduction to Another World, December 23, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Art of the Steal: How to Protect Yourself and Your Business from Fraud, America's #1 Crime (Paperback)

Abagnale is enjoying recent publicity with the release of "Catch Me If You Can," and I caught an interview with him on TV. I wanted to read "The Art of The Steal" in part because of Abagnale's incredible life (or more accurately lives)and also because of my own research interests in criminal behavior, especially antisocial Internet behavior. The book is a great glimpse into the mind of an intelligent con man. There's always a loophole, an angle...Abagnale opens your eyes to them either for entertainment or for business/information security improvement.

At times it sounds like he is gloating about his cons, but that is a small price to pay to get his explanations about how some of these cons work. His outline of one cash register scheme was so incredible to me, I had to act it out with play money to my wife.

This is a short read, but a blast to someone who enjoys learning about how the other side works.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A former con man describes common frauds and scams., February 24, 2002

By	E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Frank Abagnale gained notoriety in his youth as a master forger and imposter. He passed over two million dollars of phony checks and he pretended to be a doctor, a lawyer and an airline pilot during his successful crime spree. Abagnale described his misdeeds in his first book, "Catch Me If You Can." After years on the run, Abagnale was finally caught and he served prison time. Finally, he decided to give up his criminal ways and he is now making more money than he ever did as a criminal. For twenty-five years, Abagnale has been a "fraud prevention specialist." He helps businesses to recognize and prevent common types of fraud.

In his new book, "The Art of the Steal," Abagnale explains that fraud is big business and everyone is affected by it. The billions lost by businesses as a result of fraud are partially recovered by raising consumer prices. Fraud is more common today than ever before, with the growth of the Internet and other forms of modern technology. Today, it is easier than ever to print checks that look like the real thing and to create false identity papers. In addition to counterfeit money, counterfeit goods (including medicines and baby formulas) flood the market. Ponzi and pyramid schemes and other investment scams are still going strong.

Why is "The Art of the Steal" an important book for consumers and businessmen? Unfortunately, most people are complacent about security issues, and we don't take even the most obvious steps to protect ourselves from frauds and scams. Abagnale encourages us to be more careful about giving away important personal information over the Internet or the telephone. He warns us to shred personal papers before throwing them in the trash, and to be aware that if an offer appears too good to be true, that it probably is a scam. He also explains how businesses can avoid becoming the victims of embezzlers. Statistics show that embezzlers steal over $100 billion dollars a year from their employers.

The only negative I have about "The Art of the Steal" is that it is written in a dry and pedestrian manner, with a number of grammatical mistakes that the editor did not catch. However, the quality of the writing aside, "The Art of the Steal" is a worthwhile book. Considering the necessity of protecting ourselves from the myriad types of fraud and scams that are out there today, it is important for all of us to be more knowledgeable and circumspect about security issues.