In that location'due south never been a ameliorate fourth dimension to exist a con artist.

Modern technology makes it easier than e'er for criminals to create successful scams while hiding their identity from law enforcement. You could be targeted by a fraudster half a world away, sitting in their pajamas, drinking coffee in the kitchen while on their laptop.

The global cost of cybercrime is most $600 billion a year, according to a 2018 report from McAfee. And that staggering figure does not include the billions lost to scams and rip-offs that are not internet-related.

Then, how exercise the fraudsters practise information technology? How practise they manipulate us into giving them huge amounts of money and our virtually sensitive personal information?

"They're very skillful at convincing y'all that they are who they say they are and convincing y'all to practise things that you probably normally wouldn't do," said Frank Abagnale, a former con artist turned respected security consultant.

Steven Spielberg's 2002 film "Catch Me If You Can," starring Leonardo DiCaprio equally Abagnale, was based on Abagnale's life — a teenage con artist in the 1960s who ultimately got defenseless and served five years in prison.

Abagnale, now 71, is a security consultant who trains FBI agents. His new volume, "Scam Me If You Tin," published by Penguin Random Business firm, is a guide for consumers to protect themselves from scammers.

We had a take a chance to talk about how the scammers accept upped their game in recent years and what y'all need to do to protect yourself. Hither's role of that conversation, lightly edited for clarity. (You can listen to the entire interview past clicking here.)

When it comes to scam victims, we always think of seniors. Merely as you point out, anyone can exist scammed.

ABAGNALE: In writing the book, I was amazed that millennials are actually scammed more often than seniors. But seniors lose more than money because they have more than money.

We absolutely live in a style-likewise-much-information world. Nosotros give abroad too much data and and then we wonder why people steal our identities and why people get ahead and scam u.s..

I remind people all the time that if you lot only told me your date of nascency and where you were built-in, that's 98 percent of [what someone needs for] stealing your identity, so y'all should never tell everyone those two pieces of data.

We absolutely live in a manner-too-much-information world. We give away also much information and then we wonder why people steal our identities and why people go alee and scam us.

Frank Abagnale

Does social media make this worse?

ABAGNALE: Aye, considering we tell everybody everything — where we're going, our children's names, our parent's names, our wife'due south name, what we did yesterday. And so they [the fraudsters] use that to make those phishing emails or those scams sound so real.

For case, we have the grandparent'due south scam, a very, very mutual scam. The phone rings, the caller ID says it'southward the police force department, and then you selection up the phone. They tell you they arrested your grandson for DWI. They give you the grandson's name. They tell you lot what kind of car he was driving. They tell you he had a passenger, which was his girlfriend. They know the girlfriend's name and you know the girlfriend's name. They tell you the parent's name.

Evidently, they've gotten all of that from social media. But you effigy this absolutely must exist the law department. How can anybody else take all that information? And then it is very, very convincing [when they ask you to wire bond money to go your grandchild out of jail].

And considering of engineering, they're able to spoof or fake nearly everything, correct?

ABAGNALE: Yeah, so even when they become yous on the phone and say they're from Medicare or Social Security and you kind of uncertainty them, they'll say, 'Why don't you just await upwardly the Medicare number and and then expect at your caller ID, and you'll see that'southward the number I'm calling you from.' But spoofing the call or having the caller ID say whatever I want it to say — police force department, Medicare, U.Southward. Treasury, IRS — is a very simple thing for scammers and hackers to do.

Every scam is dissimilar, only well-nigh of them have a few things in common; red flags that we should be looking for. As you point out in the volume, one of them is the sense of urgency: I need you to do this correct now.

ABAGNALE: Yeah. At some point I'grand going to ask you for money, only it has to exist right at present. You'll have to wire me the money. You lot have to give me a credit card over the telephone. You have to go down to Walmart and get a Green Dot [debit] card and stay on the phone with me and then read me the numbers on the back of the bill of fare.

And then, I might [pretend to] be your bank calling about suspicious activity on your credit menu, merely somewhere along in the conversation, I'1000 going to enquire you to tell me the iii digits on the back of your credit card or verify your credit card number or Social Security number.

Those are the cherry-red flags: You didn't solicit that telephone call, you lot didn't solicit that e-mail. They called yous. You lot need to make sure you know who is on the other end before you lot give them any money or any information. If you can remember those 2 ruby flags, you can avert a lot of scams.

And by knowing who'south on the other end of the line, it means yous initiated the telephone call.

ABAGNALE: Right. Or that you lot're simply saying, 'If you are my bank, that's fine. Let me call you back. I will look at the number on the dorsum of my credit bill of fare. I'll call the call eye and ask for yous or I'll ask if they placed the telephone call.' That's all you have to do. Information technology takes a minute to verify, just information technology'due south certainly better than giving someone information or giving them your money.

What about people who say they're never going to get me? I bet those are the kind of people that can get scammed.

ABAGNALE: Absolutely. Heed, I know I can be scammed. And manifestly, we've had a lot of extremely well-educated people who take been scammed. [And if it happens to yous] you have to tell somebody, so they [the crooks] can't keep doing information technology to somebody else. If you don't tell anybody, they [law enforcement] can't cease it. So y'all recognize that there's nothing to exist ashamed of; everyone can be scammed.

How most a few final words of wisdom before we let y'all go?

ABAGNALE: If yous arrive like shooting fish in a barrel for someone to steal from you, and it'south very unfortunate, but chances are someone volition. So don't go far easy. Brainwash yourself. You can't rely on the law, you tin can't rely on the government, you tin can't rely on the bank to protect you. Then be proactive. Educate yourself well-nigh these things, so you don't get scammed.

Look for these common warning signs

In his book, Abagnale highlights some common alarm signs that signal yous're about to be scammed. Hither are few of them:

  • Request for action: If you're told to do something, such as "write this down" or "tell me how many bank accounts yous have," at that place'south a good chance you lot're existence played. Once con artists go you to do something, "they take taken command of the conversation and put you in a more vulnerable position," Abagnale writes.
  • Demand for fees: If you've really won a competition, sweepstakes or lottery you will not be asked to brand a payment of whatsoever kind to claim your winnings: No shipping accuse, no handling fee and no tax payment. Prize offers that crave a payment to win are scams.
  • Act now or lose: Be skeptical of anything that demands urgency, he warns. "You must make up one's mind today," or "I need an answer in the side by side few hours," is the lead-upwardly to a scam.
  • Request for untraceable payment: If you lot're required to send a payment via wire transfer, a souvenir card or some other untraceable source, beware. "Legitimate businesses have legitimate cyberbanking details that tin can be verified," Abagnale cautions.

Next: Use payment apps like Venmo, Zelle and CashApp? Here's how to protect yourself from scammers

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Herb Weisbaum

Herb Weisbaum is a contributor to NBC News and writes about consumer-related issues. He tin can be found on Facebook, Twitter, or The ConsumerMan website.