Former con man joins crime battle

FORMER con artist Frank Abagnale, whose life was portrayed in the film Catch Me if You Can, has been recruited to help in the battle against cyber crime as spokesman for the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) in a forthcoming campaign.

Catch Me If You Can is the true story of Abagnale, who was so convincing in a fake airline pilot's uniform that bank tellers and hotel clerks cashed his bad cheques without hesitation.

He is now an authority on forgery, embezzlement and secure documents. Now one of America's most respected fraud prevention experts, Abagnale has warned that many fraud, identity-theft and illegal-entry tricks have found new homes online.

America must learn good cyber security and recognise fraud on the internet, just as in the physical world,î he says.

With a focus on the home user and small businesses, the NCSA cyber security campaign is scheduled to begin in November.

NCSA chairman-Ken Watson said the group looks forward to working with Abagnale to reach out to computer users. The NCSA has also put together a list of cyber security tips as part of the campaign.

It recommends using anti-virus software and protecting computers from internet intruders by using firewalls. It also says that you should not open emails or attachments from unknown sources and should regularly download security updates and patches for operating systems and other software.