He was a teacher, a pilot, a surgeon, a prison inspector, a lawyer, and a really, really good forger.

Frank Abagnale, 70, defrauded banks and fooled people across the United States and Europe from age 15 to 21; was captured tried and sentenced first in France and spent six months in a small, filthy cell without so much as a mattress; was extradited to Sweden for trial; and eventually returned to the United States with a couple of escapes along the way.

He was sentenced to 12 years to federal prison for fraud, was released after five years and given an offer, without pay, by the federal government to help it investigate fraud. He eventually started his own security consulting service.

Now, Abagnale is a world-renowned expert educating businesses, banks and people about how not to get caught by scammers.

Speaking of getting caught, Leonardo DiCaprio played him in Steven Spielberg's Acadamy Award-nominated 2002 film "Catch Me If You Can."

And speaking of speaking, Abagnale will give a free lecture at the Lyric, 230 W. Yellowstone Highway across from the David Street Station, at 6:30 p.m. today.

The 90-minute FraudWatch lecture is sponsored by Wyoming AARP, which works with the national AARP to educate people, especially senior citizens, about scams.

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