In the United States alone, auto insurance fraud costs both consumers and insurance companies multi-billion dollar figures yearly. Perpetrated by criminal rings and other law-breaking individuals across the country, auto insurance scams use the element of surprise, convincing stories and complex scams to cheat innocent people out of thousands of dollars. Within this article, I will discuss the most common of auto insurance scams and the absolute best ways to avoid them.

There are three common situations among auto-insurance scams to try and avoid, and here are the descriptions of each:

• Staged Accidents – The most common of insurance scams in the auto industry, this one uses the element of surprise with a “break-check,” or simply the act of the car in front of you purposefully slamming on their brakes. Even when paying attention, a rear-end accident is hard to avoid. Almost as common as the scam itself, the scam driver will always try to fake medical injuries to try and garner even more money after collecting vehicle damages.
• Swoop and Squat – This one is clearly the most complex of the scams, involving two criminal vehicles and the innocent driver. The first vehicle, or the “squat” vehicle, positions them self in front of the victim. The second vehicle, or the “swoop” vehicle, then proceeds to cut off the squat vehicle by pulling ahead and swerving in front of him. The first vehicle is forced to slam on their brakes. The victim then, similar to the first situation, rear-ends the vehicle. The clueless victim sides with the “squat” vehicle, telling the police that the “swoop” vehicle was at fault, but to much of their chagrin, the vehicle will never be seen again.
• Side Swipe – This auto insurance scam tends to happen among busy intersections with duel left-hand turn lanes. The scam artist will pre-surveillance the intersection, making sure traffic is plentiful and drifting among the two left-hand turn lanes will occur. The criminal vehicle will be in the outer left-turn lane and, upon seeing the victim’s car slightly drift into the other’s lane, will side swipe him with light force.

In addition to the big three, there are also a couple of other ways auto insurance fraud may occur. “Fake helpers,” who are actually scam artists, will pretend to wave someone on to traffic and then cause an accident when the victim then enters traffic, denying that they ever waved them on in the first place. Added damage also frequently happens, where the criminal will then take their car to a remote place and add even more damage to the vehicle, increasing their profits received from the insurance companies.

While anyone can fall victim to an auto insurance scam at any time, there are a few things to keep in mind that will greatly reduce your chances of being in one. First and foremost, always pay attention to the road. While you never know when a scam artist may strike, you can always be mentally prepared and observant to avoid an accident in the first place.

Take photos of both vehicles after all accidents. This disallows the criminal to add more damage later and gives you much more credibility in the eyes of the law. Also, try and be aware of the driving situations that can’t be documented by insurance, teaching yourself all of the known possibilities in which an auto insurance scam may take root. Always keep an eye out for drivers who ‘fall back’ too often or are shifty on the brakes. In addition, you may always install vehicle cams on the front and rear of your car, hard proof of what actually occurred during the accident.

While auto insurance fraud is rampant across all parts of the country and even the world, there are always ways to try and counter it. The more educated you are on the subject and the more you prepare yourself with the best ways to deal with potential scam artists, the safer the streets are for everyone to drive on.