Master Forger Frank Abagnale Claims Blockchain Will Be Adopted By Every Bank

Real-life character and the famous movie ‘Catch me if you can’ and a master forger, Frank Abagnale has stated at the Blockchain Nation Miami Conference which was recently held that he is optimistic that every bank will soon adopt blockchain technology to secure information processing and information settlement.

He noted:

“I think you would have to be pretty ignorant not to realize that blockchain is the way for the future, it is the best way to secure information 100 percent, so I think you will see banks, especially accounting practices and accounting firms, all move to the blockchain, keeping records through blockchain. It will be the best way to do so because you cannot break the blockchain, you cannot hack into the blockchain, and you can’t change anything in the blockchain.”

Regardless of his working experience as a security consultant during the later stages of his career, Abagnale is recognized as a master forger, developing fake checks and stealing large sums of money.

Abagnale noted in his speech that he noticed leading airlines and car rental firms such as United Airlines and Hertz dropping substantial amounts of money in zip-up bags into a drop box in a certain location in the airport. Abagnale bought a security guard outfit, placed a sign that said, “Out of Service, Place Deposits With Security Guard on Duty” and gathered millions of dollars.

During the course of his former career, Abagnale counterfeited checks to cash out money from major banks and financial institutions, resulting in bank scams. Finally, Abagnale ran his jail term in Miami and before his release; he began his consultancy career.

Abagnale’s opinion regarding blockchain and cryptocurrency is worthy to be recognized given that he generated huge sums of money by breaking into the loopholes of banks, by faking checks, stealing cash and redirecting funds.

However, the frauds committed by Abagnale would not have been possible if blockchain was in place. For example, bitcoin can be used to make business transactions without making use of security boxes, guarded cars and third-party service providers. It is also not likely to fake or develop more bitcoin without creating a 51 percent attack to the network, which is almost impossible due to its computing power.

“One would have to be incredibly foolish not to see that [blockchain] is an incredible technology and that will be eventually adopted by all types of governments, businesses, and corporations. A cyber currency [cryptocurrency], just like anything else, it will take time to get people to understand how it works and I tell people all the time, and they say “is it safe?” I say every financial transaction has a risk. The only financial transaction in the world that exists that has no risk is a credit card because federal law takes total liability away from you,” added Abagnale.