| In the United States auto insurance fraud is | | | | lane. When the victim's vehicle drifts into |
| becoming one of the biggest fraud problems | | | | the outer turn lane the criminal side swipes |
| this country is faced with. In this article | | | | him. To make sure the scheme works the |
| we're going to discuss some of the more | | | | criminal does preliminary surveillance to |
| common auto insurance fraud scams and what | | | | make sure that the intersection is busy |
| somebody can do to prevent them.Today one of | | | | enough where drifting will occur because of |
| the most popular insurance fraud scams | | | | the amount of traffic.Another common auto |
| involves auto insurance and auto accidents. | | | | accident scam is what is known as the Panic |
| More specifically, staged auto accidents. | | | | Stop. In this scheme the criminal drives a |
| These have actually become quite complex to | | | | late model car filled with a lot of |
| the point where they involve multiple | | | | passengers. The criminal will then position |
| participants. There are many variations of | | | | himself in front of the victim and have one |
| these. We'll cover the main ones here.First | | | | of the passengers look out the back window |
| there is what is called the swoop and squat. | | | | watching to see for any signs of distraction |
| This scam involves three vehicles. Two are | | | | such as answering a cell phone call or |
| driven by the criminals and the third is | | | | changing a station on the radio. Any sign |
| driven by the victim. The driver of the | | | | that the victim is taking his eyes off the |
| "squat" vehicle positions himself in front of | | | | road. Once this happens the passenger |
| the victim. The person driving the "swoop" | | | | signals the driver who then slams on the |
| vehicle pulls ahead of the squat vehicle and | | | | brakes thus causing an accident. The victim |
| intentionally cuts the vehicle off. This | | | | will claim that the criminal stopped short |
| causes the driver of the squat vehicle to | | | | for no apparent reason but usually to no |
| slam on his brakes and stop short. Usually, | | | | avail. In the meantime the victim has to pay |
| the victim can't react quickly enough and | | | | for all damages and injuries |
| rams into the squat vehicle. In the | | | | reported.Unfortunately there is only one way |
| meantime, the swoop vehicle that caused the | | | | to avoid these type of accidents and that is |
| accident takes off and is never seen again. | | | | to be observant at all times and keep a safe |
| The victim tells police that the swoop | | | | distance from any vehicle ahead of you. The |
| vehicle caused the accident, but because that | | | | sad truth is, if all motorists would just |
| vehicle can't be located the victim ends up | | | | obey the speed and distance laws and rules, |
| having to pay for the damage and any personal | | | | accidents like these would never happen. But |
| injury claims.Then there is what is known as | | | | people drive too fast and too close and thus |
| the side swipe. This type of accident | | | | these type of frauds will always be pulled |
| usually happens at busy intersections with | | | | off. Drive safe and smart and your chances |
| dual left hand turn lanes. The criminal | | | | of being the victim of auto insurance fraud |
| positions his vehicle in the outer left turn | | | | will be greatly diminished. |