What is insurance fraud?
- Insurance fraud occurs when someone tries to make money from insurance transactions by deceiving others.
- Insurance fraud is a multi-billion dollar problem and everyone pays: insurance companies, policyholders, consumers – everyone.
- Insurance fraud is a costly white-collar crime in America; second only to tax evasion.
- Insurance fraud is a felony in Idaho.
Regardless of whether or not we have suffered a direct loss, we are all victims of insurance fraud. Fraudulent insurance claims add up to billions of dollars annually, resulting in higher insurance premiums for everyone.
Insurance fraud is generally classified into two categories: soft fraud and hard fraud.
Soft fraud occurs when normally honest people tell “little white lies” to their insurance company. Many people think this is just harmless fudging, but soft fraud is a crime and raises everyone’s insurance costs.
Hard fraud occurs when someone deliberately fakes an accident, injury, theft, arson or other loss to collect money illegally from insurance companies. Crooks often act alone, but increasingly, organized crime rings stage large schemes that steal millions of dollars.
We all pay for insurance fraud, so we all must join together in stamping out these swindles. We must all be part of the answer. Insurance fraud will disappear only when criminals realize fraud is a fast highway to jail, not an easy road to riches.
Click on the buttons below for more information.
