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 Accident
Reconstruction Network > Research >Insurance Fraud > News Articles
Accident reconstruction research
Common
Schemes-Auto Fraud
A greater understanding
of the tenacity and creativity deployed by the defrauders, in achieving
their goals, is to examine some of the common schemes deployed to
perpetuate "fraud in the fast lane." NICB lists the following
as some most common schemes:
Swoop and Squat.
In this scenario the accident is prepared by employing a pair of
defrauders using their own separate vehicles on the highway or wide
city street. Defrauder 1 is the "squat" vehicle, who positions
himself in front of the target vehicle (unsuspecting motorist) when
defrauder #2, who is the "swoop", suddenly and without warning pulls
in front of the "squat" vehicle and stops. The "squat" vehicle
(who is in front of the target vehicle), in response, suddenly applies
his brakes at which point the target vehicle (having little or no
time to react) usually collides into the rear of the "squat" vehicle.
Meantime, the "swoop" leaves the scene of the accident. The
victim feels helpless and ashamed for not responding in time to
avert the accident. In this scheme the target or victim is
legally at fault for not maintaining a safe distance or control
over his vehicle.
Drive Down
In this contrivance, the target vehicle attempts to merge into a
lane of moving traffic. As the target vehicle waits for the
opportunity to merge, the defrauder yields and motions to the target
vehicle to proceed with the merge. As the unsuspecting target
driver begins merging, the defrauder's vehicle intentionally collides
with the target vehicle and then vehemently denies giving the target
vehicle the consent to merge into traffic.
Hit and Run
In this scenario, the defrauder, while employing a prior damaged
vehicle, files a police report claiming to be a victim of a hit
and run. The defrauder uses the police report to verify the
damage to his vehicle and then sends the claim to his insurance
company.
Paper Accidents
Just as the scheme suggests, paper accidents occur only on paper.
The defrauder or the owner of the vehicle files a false accident
report claiming a new damage on his vehicle, when in fact, the damage
was pre-existent, to collect insurance money. Generally, the
defrauder uses this tactic when he had damaged his vehicle in a
manner that his insurance company would not honor his claim.
Side Swipe
In this contrivance, the defrauder selects an unsuspecting motorist
as a target at a congested intersection which have dual left turns
lanes. The victim, generally, while completing a left turn
in the inner lane gradually drifts out into the outer lane, whereupon
the defrauder (operating on the outer lane) intentionally collides
with the target's vehicle. Generally, the intersection sites
are chosen by the defrauder after exhaustive surveillances to determine
the presence of the following favorable conditions: (1) frequency
of autos drifting from inner to outer lanes (or vice versa) (2)
the concentration of traffic and(3) the frequent sightings of late
model vehicles.
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