Fraud Glossary

• Arson-for-Profit - Exactly what it says. Someone burns something to make a buck.

• Disaster Fraud - Fraud that occurs when bad guys grab a piece of the pay-out action from a disaster victim - or they contract to do repairs and never complete the work.

• Exaggerated Claims - Padding a claim. Consumers pay billions of dollars annually to cover these "little exaggerations".
  Falsifying Theft Reports - Lying for dollars. Claiming things were stolen that weren't.

MEDICAL FRAUD

• Medical Mills - Medical clinics that derive the majority of their income via fraudulent means.

• Padded Bills - Adding fraudulent aspects to medical bills. For instance, a patient might come in for a simple office visit, but the clinic will bill the insurance company for x-rays, blood tests, and other things that were never provided.

• Medicaid or Medicare - Insurance programs run by state or federal agencies that are high targets by scammers.

PERSONAL INJURY SCHEMES

• Slip and Fall - Usually a staged mishap; most often taking place in a place of business. The person who falls will make an injury claim for nonexistent injuries. 

PROPERTY FRAUD

• Multiple Policies for Profit - A person purchases multiple policies to insure the same thing. Then there is an intentional loss and they attempt to collect on all of the policies.

VEHICLE FRAUD

• Swoop and Squat - An intentionally caused auto accident. Car #1 swoops in front of Car #2. Car #2 slams on his brakes. Car #3 (that's the innocent victim) rear ends Car #2. The driver and passengers in Car #2 claim injuries against Car #3's insurance company.

• Drive Down - Car #1 signals Car #2 that it's okay to proceed. When car #2 pulls out, Car #1 intentionally hits him. The accident, of course, is blamed on Car #2. The driver and passengers of Car #1 claim injuries.

• Paper Accidents - Accidents that happen only on paper.

• Hidden/inflated Repair Costs - Dishonest auto body shops inflate a damage estimate so that the car owner does not have to pay his/her deductible. 

• Policy Misrepresentation - Someone getting an insurance policy misrepresents an important piece of information to get a lower rate.

• Owner/Lessee Give-up - Vehicle owner/lessee arranges for his own car to be stolen -- and hands it over to the alleged thief. Then he files a claim that says his car was stolen.

WORKER'S COMPENSATION FRAUD

• Employee Fraud - A fraudulent claim filed by an employee against his employer's insurance policy. Or...false information provided by an employer on his application in order to obtain a lower rate than the one to which he is entitled.