You’re probably familiar with health insurance fraud, immigration fraud, credit card fraud, check fraud, bankruptcy fraud, and food stamp fraud, but are you familiar with another type of fraud involving staged car accidents? You read that right, some people will go so far as to stage a car accident to commit car insurance fraud.
Imagine for a moment a car accident that looked like a traditional car accident, but it’s no accident at all. Instead, one or more people schemed to create a fake or “premeditated” car accident in order to defraud an auto insurance company. Well, these accidents may involve one or more “schemers,” but they often reel in innocent drivers to complete their fraudulent schemes and collect thousands from insurance companies.
Staged Car Accidents Explained
What is a staged car accident exactly? It’s where one or more people, who can be drivers, motorcyclists, or bicyclists, or any combination of the three, intentionally cause a car accident that appears to be an unsuspecting driver’s fault, the driver who is NOT in on the scam. Usually, the scammers’ goal is to collect from their own insurance company, the unsuspecting victim’s insurance, or through a personal injury lawsuit with the goal of making some cold hard cash through fraud.
Once the staged car accident is complete, next the scammers make claims for vehicle damage and bogus injuries. The elements of a fake crash usually involve one or more of the following: a faked crash, fake injuries, fake victims, fake witnesses who are in on the scam, police reports with false information based on lies, and at least one innocent person who is a victim of the scam.
Staging a Fake Car Accident
Imagine whipping in front of someone and then slamming on your breaks so they rear-end you. Well, that’s how many, but not all, staged car accidents are done. Generally, a staged car accident involves a shady person maneuvering a vehicle in a strategic way to cause an unsuspecting driver to collide into their car. If the shady driver is successful, he or she will make it appear (at first glance) as if the crash was all the unsuspecting driver’s fault.
If you believe you were in a staged car accident, you are not alone! Contact The Zendeh Del Law Firm, PLLC to meet with a Plano car accident attorney who is on your side.