ho says you can't learn a thing or two from Hollywood? People flocking to see one of the top movies in the country today should be motivated to make a few changes when they leave the theater.

The movie, Steven Spielberg's "Catch Me If You Can," focuses on a master fraudster in the late 1960s who leaves a trail of bad checks around the world. The fraudster, Frank Abagnale, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio, was eventually caught, but not before he managed to forge about $2.5 million dollars' worth of checks. (The book that has been written about him, and the movie that was created from it, say the figure was much more, but Abagnale insists on his Web site that $2.5 million is correct.)

In real life, Abagnale served time and was released from prison early on the condition that he help the government in its efforts to catch other check fraudsters. Today, Abagnale is a law-abiding citizen and teaches banks and corporations how to fight check fraud.

SuperCheck is his latest creation. SuperCheck is a new personal check designed by Abagnale to thwart most check frauds. While consumer checks in America have only three or four security features, at least a dozen security features have been incorporated into the SuperCheck design, including several previously available only to large corporations.

The paper is manufactured by Leigh-Mardon in Australia, and the check is printed and distributed through financial institutions in the United States by SAFECheck, a check fraud prevention company based in North Hollywood, Calif., and by Liberty Check Printers in Mounds View, Minn.

Technology has made it simple and convenient for busy people to bank, pay bills and even buy stocks - as simple as clicking a computer mouse. But there's a flip side to this simplicity: otherwise savvy consumers are often caught in a web of deception and rendered powerless, victimized by check fraud.

"Consumers need every method of protection they can find," Abagnale says. "SuperCheck is designed to help consumers protect themselves and their bank accounts."

Check fraud is a multibillion-dollar-a-year problem that is tough to quantify because there is no central repository of information about the crime. Depending on who's doing the guesstimating, losses from check frauds cost the U.S. economy between $10 billion and $20 billion annually. Additionally, every jurisdiction treats check fraud differently. Even though a fraudulent check for $500 might be enough of a loss to merit the attention of local investigators in a small Massachusetts town, that's not likely in a large city like Los Angeles.

Although corporations are most vulnerable to check fraud because of the huge amounts of money that can be stolen, frauds involving consumer checking accounts are more common today. The American Bankers Association (ABA) estimates that nearly three quarters of all check fraud at so-called "community banks" involve consumer accounts. At the largest banks, 64% of fraudulent checks are drawn on consumer accounts, according to the ABA's data.

To help limit their own losses, banks are rewriting liability contracts and signature card agreements to reflect the need for customers to take proactive steps against check fraud or suffer the financial consequences. Greg Litster, SAFECheck's President and CEO, says he asked Abagnale to help design a personal check for American consumers that would reach the high level of check security that SAFECheck already provides its corporate clients.

The result is a check two years in the making that has 12 built-in security features, some visible, some covert. These security features make it difficult to scan, duplicate or alter a SuperCheck.

"SuperCheck is the check for people with something to lose," Abagnale says.

For more information, visit www.SuperCheck.net.