I was fortunate enough to attend the Connecticut Chapter of AARP and its volunteer's presentation of An Evening with Frank Abagnale. If the name sounds familiar, but you can't quite place it, that's OK. But he was the man (or boy) who the movie Catch Me If You Can by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio (as Abagnale) and Tom Hanks as the FBI Agent trying to catch Abagnale.
I was somewhat skeptical before attending, assuming the speech would be educational and informative, but also wondering if I would be listening to a narcissist or sociopath, but my skepticism was pleasantly unwarranted. I left feeling great empathy and admiration for Mr. Abagnale and the life he led after being caught. He is not proud nor pleased with his crimes and has worked a lifetime to repent on a personal and spiritual level.
But aside from telling his story in his own words (rather than a dramatized version on the silver screen), he also informed people of some scary stats regarding data and identity fraud. To balance that, he also talked about ways to help protect oneself. It was a great presentation and I left wanting even more. If you get a chance to hear him in the future you should check him out. In the meantime, here's a link to my personal summary of the evening. There is a lot more detail and some helpful links embedded in it.
