Thirty-one years ago, I was a veteran police officer in Connecticut investigating a large stolen car ring. I loved to investigate auto theft and owner give up cases. However, with this investigation I needed the assistance of the local NATB (National Automobile Theft Bureau) Agent to help me identify vehicles that had had their VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) removed. I was so impressed with the agent's expertise, knowledge, and contacts that I soon made a career change and joined NATB. It was so rewarding to be working with law enforcement and insurance companies fighting vehicle theft and fraud, identifying stolen vehicles, and dismantling auto theft rings.
During the years that followed, I often worked joint investigations with The Insurance Crime Prevention Institute (ICPI) that was headquartered in Connecticut. These investigators were assisting insurance companies by pursuing medical and legal providers, as well as the insureds, with cases like staged accidents and medical mills. Each organization had totally separate (and rarely shared) databases ranging from vehicle theft, salvage, and export information to injury claim, property loss and medical legal provider relationships. It only made sense that the two organizations would merge as one in 1992 as the NICB (National Insurance Crime Bureau) and become the premier not- for- profit corporation in the battle against insurance crime and vehicle theft. At the same time, I assumed a management position in the new company that took me to various offices around the Eastern U.S.
My how things have evolved since then! As Bob Dylan wrote, "The Times They Are A Changing" and as the times changed, so did the NICB. The file cabinets, large paper files, books, and clerks that dominated our offices in the past evolved into lightening fast computers, disks, and printers. New types of employees – analysts and programmers - were brought onboard to help not only in recording information, but more importantly in analyzing and predicting fraud. A picture is still worth a thousand words, so when an analyst can take the data in an investigator's reports and spreadsheets and create a chart that makes a fraud case "airtight" then it can be said we have moved in the right direction.
As the fraudsters change their schemes, NICB has changed with them. I look forward to combating the next generation of insurance crimes. Our investigators always seem to have the ability to cope with change and stay one step ahead of the fraudsters. I also look forward to seeing the changes our technology and investigators will undergo to make sure NICB continues to be the preeminent organization fighting insurance fraud and vehicle crime.
Keith C. - Director - Field Operations