Latest Fraud Headlines

All the headlines from our Fraud Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Home Surveillance Video Leads to Arrests for Fraud in Alleged Staged Auto Collision

Jan 25 2024 // A home surveillance video camera helped lead investigators to five Southern California residents for allegedly staging an auto collision to collect an insurance payout.Each defendant has been charged with one felony count...

Illinois Man Pleads Guilty to Arson and Insurance Fraud Scheme

Jan 23 2024 // An Illinois man admitted guilt in federal court last week for his involvement in a scheme to commit arson on residential properties and collect fraudulent insurance benefits.Rufis A. Jefferson, 47, of Venice, Illinois,...

Vans, Dickies Owner VF Corp: Data of 35.5M Consumers Stolen in Recent Cyberattack

Jan 23 2024 // Apparel and footwear company VF Corp. disclosed last week that the personal data of about 35.5 million consumers were stolen as part of a December 2023 cyberattack.According to a Jan. 18 filing with the U.S. Securities and...

Kansas Man Sentenced for Insurance Fraud

Jan 22 2024 // Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt announced a Kansas man has been sentenced to 12 months of probation for insurance fraud. Cloise Allen, age 46, pled guilty in the District Court of Sedgwick County to one...

Trudeau to Hold National Summit in Response to Canada’s Massive Spike in Auto Thefts

Jan 22 2024 // Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is holding a summit next month to coordinate a national response to a massive spike in auto thefts across Canada in recent years.Toronto, Canada’s largest city, has...

Western U.S. States Had Among Highest Car Theft Rates, Report Shows

Jan 22 2024 // A new report shows Colorado has the most car thefts, while populous California made the top 10 list.The report’s authors analyzed data from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer, which showed the amount of motor...

Trends in Auto Thefts Add to Rising Claim Costs

Jan 22 2024 // Vehicle theft rates continue to put pressure on the personal auto insurance market.CCC Intelligent Solutions said in its year-end report that the number of vehicle thefts in the U.S. increased 2% in the first half of 2023...

Man Pleads Guilty to One of New York’s Biggest No-Fault Insurance Frauds Ever

Jan 22 2024 // A New Jersey man has pleaded guilty to orchestrating an estimated $70 million fraud targeting no-fault automobile insurance companies in New York.U.S. Attorney Damian Williams reported that Bradley Pierre of Closter, N.J.,...

Iowa Man Sentenced for Disaster-Related Insurance Fraud

Jan 18 2024 // An Iowa man was sentence last week to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to crimes of insurance fraud.Timothy Daryle Sletten, age 32, of Marshalltown, was sentenced on January 11, 2024. The charges against Sletten...

Texas Woman Sentenced for Workers’ Compensation Fraud

Jan 17 2024 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company recently reported that a Travis County district court sentenced Ruth Castilleja of Baytown, Texas, on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. Castilleja reported an on-the-job...

Former Finance Manager of WV Disaster Assistance Sentenced to 3 Years for Theft

Jan 16 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A former finance manager of a nonprofit organization that assists West Virginia disaster victims was sentenced Thursday to more than three years in prison for the theft of $871,000 from the...

Alabama City Councilman Charged With Insurance Fraud

Jan 16 2024 // Alabama authorities last week charged a city councilman with insurance fraud, alleging that he falsely claimed he had purchased a BMW vehicle. Derrick Griffin, a councilman in Prichard, next to Mobile, was indicted by a...

New York Seeks $370 Million in Damages in Trump’s Civil Fraud Trial

Jan 9 2024 // New York state lawyers increased their request for penalties to over $370 million Friday in Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial. He retorted, “They should pay me.”The exchange came as lawyers for...

Court Says Bulk of GEICO’s $2.3 Million Fraud Case Belongs in Arbitration

Jan 5 2024 // Insurer GEICO has been dealt a setback in its efforts to get back $2.3 million in what it alleges were fraudulent medical and chiropractic service charges it paid to several clinics under New Jersey’s no-fault...

Medical Biller Charged With Stealing $1 Million in Workers’ Compensation Payments

Jan 4 2024 // New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the arrest and arraignment of a New Jersey man for allegedly stealing more than $1 million that was intended to be paid to doctors who provided medical care to injured...

Florida Labor Supplier Sentenced to 12 Months for Tax, WC Insurance Fraud

Jan 4 2024 // The head of a Tampa-area labor supplier has been sentenced to 12 months in prison after she pleaded guilty to defrauding the IRS and workers’ compensation insurers out of millions of dollars.A federal judge in Tampa...

How to Commit Insurance Fraud (Without Even Trying)

Jan 4 2024 // This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync.A licensed life insurance agent went door-to-door, posing as a Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) employee. According to consumer complaints that the...

Top East Insurance Journal Fraud Stories of 2023

Jan 2 2024 // About 10% of property/casualty insurance losses can be traced to fraud, according to the industry’s Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. Insurance Journal publishes an average of 22 fraud stories a month. Insurance...

Allstate Sues Florida Pain Clinics, Alleging Millions in Fraudulent Billings

Jan 2 2024 // After an Allstate Insurance investigation alleged that a well-known Florida pain clinic had conspired with an injury law firm and had fraudulently billed the auto insurer for unnecessary surgeries and risky procedures,...

California Lawsuit Says Grocer Broke Law by Asking Job-Seekers About Criminal Histories

Dec 27 2023 // California sued the Ralphs supermarket chain, alleging that it violated state law by asking job-seekers whether they had criminal records and illegally rejecting hundreds of applicants.The California Civil Rights...