Former Fraudster Says to Stop Using Debit Cards

When over 16 million people are scammed out of over $16 billion, there’s likely some type of problem that needs to be addressed. Famous con artist, Frank Abagnale, the man immortalized in Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can, a movie that was based off his own memoir, has been working as a security consultant with the Federal Bureau of Investigation for over 45 years. In that time, he has become an expert in cybersecurity and fraud prevention.

In those decades' worth of fraud detection, Abagnale has seen a lot, but he’s never seen anything quite like the debit card. “I don’t own a debit card. I’ve never owned one. I’ve never allowed my three sons to possess one. Certainly, and truly the worst financial tool ever given to the American consumer.” He goes on to talk about how the debit card spikes a person’s personal liability. 

Instead, he advocates the use of credit cards. The rationale is that transactions in which a consumer uses a debit card exposes the money in their account if credentials were to get stolen, while a credit card eliminates personal liability for stolen credentials. Additionally, by using credit in the same way that most people use debit, it allows people to build and maintain a healthy credit score, a must-have if you want to make any big-ticket purchases down the road. 

“When you steal credit card numbers...that has a very short, short shelf life. You have to get rid of it very, very quickly. But, if I steal your name, if I steal your social security number, and your date of birth, you can’t change your name, you can’t change your social security number, you can’t change your date of birth.”

Abagnale, goes on to talk about the future of cybersecurity and how new technologies are being developed that will change the face of authentication; and, leave passwords irrelevant. He also talks a bit about how the Internet of Things presents a lot of opportunities for hackers due to the technology companies not taking a vigilant look at the devices’ security before sending the tech to market. 

Watch the full talk here:

If you are looking for a way to secure your data, your business’ data, and keep your network and infrastructure secure, call the security experts at Microtechs today at (415) 246-0101.