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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.88
EAN: 9780767906845
ISBN: 0767906845
Label: Broadway
Manufacturer: Broadway
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: 2002-11-12
Publisher: Broadway
Release Date: 2002-11-12
Studio: Broadway
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Introduction to Fraud in the Modern Era
Comment: Beyond being a latter-day America folk hero, Frank Abagnale has a critical and detailed eye. As they say, the devil is in the details. Understanding the details that allow fraud and theft to succeed can help prevent the individual and small business from being taken by practiced scam artists. Whether the scam is for $20 or $20,000, the tactics are the same - confidence. The criminals want to build trust and confidence within victims to the point where people are begging the crooks to take their money. As Abagnale says: "Be impressed with the check, not the person." Over and over this book illustrates how examining the details of paperwork, checks, money, and documentation instead of trusting a smile or handsome face will save you from loss. One of the most telling points of this book is that even in this age of cybercrime, paper-fraud quietly and rapidly increases. Get this book and be entertained as well as shocked.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A guide to professional con artistry by one with experience in all the tricks
Comment: The things that can be done with receipts, credit cards and cheques is amazing. I have to admit I'm astonished after reading this that in 2008 cheques are still so widely used everyday in the USA and that they are cashed in so many places (like corner stores and supermarkets etc) - its something you'd never see in Australia where cheques are dying in use only cashed in a few places like banks under restricted circumstances. Its no wonder there's so much fraud with them in the states.
Knowledge can be a two edged sword as the author of this book readily acknowledges. On the one hand it can help people who don't know any better avoid scams on the other hand this book is a good primer for people who want to learn some basics of the con for themselves.
Some of the techniques in this book are very American-centric based on weaknesses in the financial system there but other such as short change artist getting you at the till are much more international. All said this is a fascinating read on how the best intentions can be turned on their head and how a willingness to believe the best in everyone will probably only get you ripped off eventually by those who do not have the same principles. The methods of the con may change over the years (hence the move to on-line fraud these days) but this book can give you a valuable insight into some of the ingenious methods of fraud, both simple and complex.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Common Sense that's Not so Common
Comment: Abagnale offers some insight into the mind, motives, and methods of many criminals. As I read through the The Art of the Steal, I found that many of Mr. Abagnale's suggestions were useful, some were common sense, and a few were just fluff to fill up the pages of a book. I liked the format because the chapters are broken down into logical (and small) segments that provide excellent reading material for the bus, train, or in a waiting room. I found the details of the scams described in the book absolutely fascinating. The real question that you need to ask yourself after reading a book like this is : Do I feel that I am better prepared to prevent fraud for having read this book? My answer to this question is, Yes. I am buying an extra copy of this book for my neice who is a bank teller, and I would recommend it to those in management, those running a private business, or anyone who supervises employees that handle money (or cash equivalents).
Customer Rating:
Summary: You Better Read This Book - Stealing is too EASY!
Comment: Well written book by an ex-con who was very successful as a thief. The simplicity and ease of the acts clearly demonstrate the skill of the author. I am much more aware of how to protect myself against theft after reading this very effective book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Enlightening
Comment: It's amazing the number of ways you can get ripped off. If you learn one thing from this book, it's that you've got to watch your a**!
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Editorial Reviews:
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The world--famous former con artist and bestselling author of Catch Me if You Can now reveals the mind--boggling tricks of the scam trade--with advice that has made him one of America's most sought--after fraud--prevention experts.
"I had as much knowledge as any man alive concerning the mechanics of forgery, check swindling, counterfeiting, and other similar crimes. Ever since I'd been released from prison, I'd often felt that if I directed this knowledge into the right channels, I could help people a great deal. Every time I went to the store and wrote a check, I would see two or three mistakes made on the part of the clerk or cashier, mistakes that a flimflam artist would take advantage of. . . . In a certain sense, 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. I've merely redirected the talents I've always possessed. I've applied the same relentless attention to working on stopping fraud that I once applied to perpetuating fraud."
In Catch Me if You Can, Frank W. Abagnale recounted his youthful career as a master imposter and forger. In The Art of the Steal, Abagnale tells the remarkable story of how he parlayed his knowledge of cons and scams into a successful career as a consultant on preventing financial foul play--while showing you how to identify and outsmart perpetrators of fraud.
Technology may have made it easier to track down criminals, but cyberspace has spawned a skyrocketing number of ways to commit crime--much of it untraceable. Businesses are estimated to lose an unprecedented $400 billion a year from fraud of one sort or another. If we were able to do away with fraud for just two years, we'd erase the national debt and pay Social Security for the next one hundred years. However, Abagnale has discovered that punishment for committing fraud, much less recovery of stolen funds, seldom happens: Once you're a victim, you won't get your money back. Prevention is the best form of protection.
Drawn from his twenty-five years of experience as an ingenious con artist (whose check scams alone mounted to more than $2 million in stolen funds), Abagnale's The Art of the Steal provides eye-opening stories of true scams, with tips on how they can be prevented. Abagnale takes you deep inside the world and mind of the con artist, showing you just how he pulled off his scams and what you can do to avoid becoming the next victim. You'll hear the stories of notorious swindles, like the mustard squirter trick and the "rock in the box" ploy, and meet the criminals like the famous Vickers Gang who perpetrated them. You'll find out why crooks wash checks and iron credit cards and why a thief brings glue with him to the ATM. And finally, you'll learn how to recognize a bogus check or a counterfeit bill, and why you shouldn't write your grocery list on a deposit slip.
A revealing look inside the predatory criminal mind from a former master of the con, The Art of the Steal is the ultimate defense against even the craftiest crook.
From the Hardcover edition.
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