The following is from an article written by Susan Besze Wallace for FORUM Magazine.
Like the accident, the phone call seemed to come out of nowhere. It was just a fender bender. Luckily no one was injured by the texting teen's failure to stop her car, but the man who dialed within days of the incident told the owner of the bumped bumper that she was entitled to $10,000 for her accident. "But I'm not hurt," she said. "It doesn't matter," he dangled. "I can get you up to $10,000." "But nothing is wrong," she explained. He paused a moment, waiting for a spark of interest. It wasn't coming. Click.
On this day, the man wouldn't find someone willing to perpetrate fraud for some quick cash. Instead, he found the wife of the police chief in Hialeah, Fla., a hotbed for insurance fraud and the site of one of seven major medical fraud task forces recently established by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
"Some people think that in these economic times, 'Why shouldn't I get $10,000 if I can?'" says Hialeah Police Chief Mark Overton. "Criminals are appealing to greed and need. They think, 'Who does it hurt?' But it hurts us all."
Read the full article.