
‘Catch Me If You Can’ Scam Artist Has a Warning for Today’s Consumers - SREinSF
https://www.wsj.com/articles/catch-me-if-you-can-scam-artist-has-a-warning-for-todays-consumers-1506002560?mod=trending_now_4
======
throwa34943way
Why bother with check fraud that can get you in trouble, when people will give
you millions willingly on crowdfuding website for 3D renderings?

[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1041610927/znaps-
the-9-...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1041610927/znaps-
the-9-magnetic-adapter-for-your-mobile-devic/description)

$ 2,438,203

[https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ritot-the-first-
projectio...](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ritot-the-first-projection-
watch)

$1,401,510

[https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/shiftwear-customize-
your-...](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/shiftwear-customize-your-kicks-
technology)

$925,952

And you're not even obligated to fulfil anything, just demonstrate you've
"tried" enough!

~~~
dictum
It's funny how I intuitively noticed that all 3 were likely to be scams (or
just unlikely to be shipped due to a team's inability to see it through to
shipping) just from:

\- a lack of consistent, high-quality brand identity; you can notice design
tropes that a novice/underpaid graphic designer would use

\- use of generic/non-exclusive stock photography (this woman -
[https://c1.iggcdn.com/indiegogo-media-prod-
cld/image/upload/...](https://c1.iggcdn.com/indiegogo-media-prod-
cld/image/upload/c_limit,f_auto,w_620/v1406857882/pgehjmdjsjzu0dmeoq5n.png) \-
is a meme: [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ariane-the-overexposed-
stock-p...](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ariane-the-overexposed-stock-photo-
model))

\- plain kitsch: [https://c1.iggcdn.com/indiegogo-media-prod-
cld/image/upload/...](https://c1.iggcdn.com/indiegogo-media-prod-
cld/image/upload/fl_progressive:semi,q_auto,f_auto,c_fill,w_695/v1451174493/apojpc3r3rzdmet6peax.png)

~~~
qyv
It's funny how we have been trained into thinking a product is sub-par because
the team didn't spend a lot of money on marketing material.

~~~
dictum
At that stage, the product _is_ its marketing. You're selling the promise, as
there's no physical product to evaluate on your own, or widely available
reviews of your product.

When a company is really invested in a product, they put a lot of work on it,
often worth much more the investment (in money, time, opportunity costs,
mental energy etc). Scammers just want to pick the low hanging fruit.

Good marketing can be inexpensive, but it's not easy. Perhaps it's pick 3 of:
cheap, effective, tasteful, easy.

------
gnicholas
> _People go on Facebook and tell you what car they drive, their mother’s
> name, their wife’s maiden name, children’s name, where they’re going on
> vacation, where they’ve been on vacation._

Also, Equifax.

~~~
yesiamyourdad
Equifax gets a lot of bad press because they made a ton of money while
mismanaging people's personal information. Abagnale's point is that people go
throwing around most of that same personal information around with no regard
to their privacy.

------
a3n
> Mr. Abagnale now puts his skills to use teaching FBI agents around the
> country about cybercrime, identity theft and fraud. “Frank has a unique
> ability” to communicate, says the special agent in charge of the FBI’s
> Charlotte, N.C., field office, John Strong, who has worked with Mr. Abagnale
> on multiple occasions. “The guy is a genius.”

His masterpiece scam?

~~~
skrebbel
You didn't finish the article. He spent age 21 to 26 in prison. That's long,
and it's the years when people usually develop their life direction and
opportunities.

~~~
R_haterade
That he didn't turn back to crime after spending that time of his life in the
best school for crime is surprising. Good for him.

~~~
xigency
Not sure that it works like that in the solitary confinement of a French
prison.

~~~
R_haterade
Good point. I need to learn more about this guy.

------
cdubzzz
The interview is very light on details. Is it really so plainly simple to
draft from a person’s bank account using only the information on a check?

~~~
klenwell
Yes. If you can trick senior citizens into giving you the information over the
phone, you've got a legitimate business in the eyes of the banking industry.

This was a scam that caught my grandmother 10 years ago. The New York Times
did a story on the industry:

 _State regulators have tried to protect victims like Mr. Guthrie. In 2005,
attorneys general of 35 states urged the Federal Reserve to end the unsigned
check system... But the Federal Reserve disagreed. It changed its rules to
place greater responsibility on banks that first accept unsigned checks, but
has permitted their continued use.

...In all, Wachovia accepted $142 million of unsigned checks from companies
that made unauthorized withdrawals from thousands of accounts, federal
prosecutors say. Wachovia collected millions of dollars in fees from those
companies, even as it failed to act on warnings, according to records._

[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/business/20tele.html](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/business/20tele.html)

I documented my failed effort to get Washington Mutual to reverse the checks
written against my grandmother's account:

[http://wamublamesgrandma.blogspot.com/](http://wamublamesgrandma.blogspot.com/)

~~~
tomohawk
Yet another reason to never ever use a big bank.

------
craigds
Are cheques still a thing? I haven't seen one in about ten years, maybe more.

~~~
lostlogin
I’ve previously noticed that places that spell it ‘cheque’ use the payment
method less than those who spell it check.

~~~
Aaargh20318
Probably because they are no longer issued or accepted in Europe. Europay
pulled the plug on them in 2002.

------
kapauldo
Cleaned
[https://read.feedly.com/html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2...](https://read.feedly.com/html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Famp%2Farticles%2Fcatch-
me-if-you-can-scam-artist-has-a-warning-for-todays-
consumers-1506002560&theme=white&size=medium)

------
tdburn
This is why you should really consider having fraud insurance as a backup,
like Zanders or even lifelock. Especially of you have any sizable cash in you
bank account.

~~~
UnoriginalGuy
No point, banks are liable for fraud rather than the consumer. I believe
consumer's liability is capped at $50-500 depending on how quickly the fraud
is reported. Just make sure you don't wait past 60 days to report. Credit
cards have even more protections.

These plans rarely pay out, and you'll likely spend more on subscription fees
than they'd return to you in fraud payments.

[https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-get-my-
mon...](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-get-my-money-back-
after-i-discovered-an-unauthorized-transaction-or-money-missing-from-my-bank-
account-en-1017/)

~~~
tdburn
Thanks for the feedback. You got me thinking I should be more critical of
Zanders and whether they actually pay out. I'm gonna check with my insurance
agent and see what he offers , at least he would be an advocate for me.

FYI: banks are liable only for PERSONAL accounts. If you have a BUSINESS
Account that gets hit by fraud, the bank is not liable. Thats where fraud
insurance is most important

------
keksicus
>tfw you realize Bitcoin and Monero are more secure than your US banking
account.

When are we going to stop the stupid practice of using serial numbers and
strings for identity and start using strong cryptography to establish
identity, authorized signatures, etc?

~~~
bgwallace
If strong cryptography is used, the customer won't get any money back in case
of fraud.

Good luck proving a manufacturer key generation screwup on smart cards for
example. Things like this happen.

