Failing Compilation of Insurance Scams

by Rosie Esplana

September 21, 2021

When an insurance policy is active, one may not suffer a loss if everything goes smoothly. This could make some people feel as if they’ve been duped by the insurance provider. Is getting that money back plus a bit extra, if possible, the next step?

Is it possible to defraud the company? Attempting to defraud an insurance company will result in criminal penalties and lawsuits.

Let’s look at how people defrauded insurance companies and ended up in a bad situation:

Faked his death, and staged a funeral tombstone

In order to claim $1.2 million in life insurance payments, four California women allegedly fabricated a man (“Jim Davis”), faked his death, and then conducted a sham funeral complete with actors paid to play as mourners in order to be convicted of wire fraud.

After two insurance companies initiated investigations into their claims, the FBI tracked down former mortuary workers Jean Crump, 67, Faye Shilling, 61, Barbara Ann Lynn, 64, and Lydia Eileen Pearce, 35.

According to the FBI report: “The con artists were so shaken by this that they had the casket containing Jim Davis’s bones exhumed. To guarantee the right weight, they filled the casket with a mannequin and cow parts before sending it to a crematory. They then filed fictitious documents claiming that he had been burned and his remains strewn across the Pacific Ocean.”

The Headbanger

On a dreary day in 2014, a South Korean guy decided to put on a spectacular performance. The 19-year-old had no idea that the vehicle’s owner had installed a dashboard camera.

The proprietor rolled slowly out of the parking lot. To his amazement, a young man dashed in front of the car and slammed his head against the windshield, causing immediate damage to both the windshield and his skull.

This owner would never have been able to prove his innocence without the camera footage. The individual would have defrauded the insurance company in order to obtain costly care for his fictitious injuries. He may have requested a large sum of money in addition to the treatment for mental stress.

The Liar’s Wife

A 35-year-old woman defrauded an insurance company out of $90,000. She even made up a phony eye witness after realizing she didn’t have enough proof to establish she wasn’t at blame in an accident she claimed insurance for.

Three years later, the now-wife of an innocent man had to pay the price for her actions (literally). Her husband revealed not just the truth about his wife, but also the fact that the “eye witness” was not even present at the time of the accident.

The matter is still pending, and the woman could be charged with a crime.

33 Issues by One Man

A 37-year-old Singaporean man defrauded several General Insurance Companies out of almost S$465,000. His plan was to manufacture fictitious car accidents and then file insurance claims for the resulting damage.

This man and his many allies enjoyed the feast for more than two years. One of his associates has been charged with falsely providing 81 pieces of information to the police. The individual is accused of committing 33 insurance frauds. He is currently facing charges.

Obtain, prepare, and ignite

A 47-year-old guy decided to end his misery after experiencing financial difficulties. He devised a cunning scheme to defraud the insurance company that covered his 2008 Holden Captiva while sitting at a neighborhood tavern.

The goal was to “take” the car and burn it on fire while it was still in the driveway. The person who would steal the car would return the keys to make it appear as if it had been stolen. The automobile drove away and was set on fire as planned, but the keys were never given to the owner.

Willing to stick to the plan, this Australian car owner filed a fictitious police report, only to confess to the crime on July 18, 2017. He has been placed on a 12-month probationary period and must do 100 hours of community service.

Dear Deer!

To make the situation look “real,” a gangster and body shop owner from Philadelphia utilized deer blood and body pieces, as well as mud and grass, to stage accidents. This is a textbook case of an insurance fraud involving a large sum of money, $5 million to be exact.

This mobster was notorious for causing minor car damage, forcing owners to visit his workshop for repairs. Aside from that, he’s been charged with a slew of criminal offenses, including fake vandalism, attempted murder, and extortion.

On a bus that has been wrecked, feigning an injury

Ronald Moore planned the ultimate get-rich-quick scam after he saw what he thought was a major bus accident: he pretended to be a passenger, jumped onto the bus, gripped his back in distress, and later filed an injury claim, according to authorities.

Unfortunately for him, the whole thing was recorded. After the event in April 2011, Assistant District Attorney Linda Montag told Philly.com, “It’s almost comical.”

“It was just a minor tap from a taxicab. On the bus, there wasn’t even a scratch which becomes a total joke.”

Moore was fined $1,000 and ordered to serve two years of probation. Because he never filed an insurance claim, another man who was recorded on camera boarding the bus with Moore dodged charges.

A hoax suicide note

A life insurance salesperson from Enumclaw, Washington, couldn’t get away with an alleged multi-million-dollar insurance fraud despite his own expertise in the sector.

According to the Seattle Post Intelligencer, federal authorities claim Aaron Travis Beaird not only stole $2 million from his customers’ accounts. And also, convinced a family member to obtain a $2 million life insurance policy, then claimed the guy died to cash it.

Beaird allegedly stopped his car near a bridge and tucked a suicide note on the dash with an admission of his crime when police arrived. ‘Travis the con man who is responsible for this scams,’ he signed it. In late June, Beaird was discovered alive and well. He is facing two counts of wire fraud and is awaiting trial.

Final Thoughts

Insurance companies have their own methods for obtaining information from any reliable resources they have for tracking personal information. With the help of law enforcement, the insurance industry has run into some digging methods. The National Insurance Crime Bureau can help you track down scammers all over the world.

Conning an insurance company, no matter how profitable it appears, will only add to the mess. Filing a false claim is a felony, not a way to make money. The only thing that all of the cases have in common is that they were all caught!