Latest Fraud Headlines

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

Auto Thefts Down in Tulsa

Jan 20 2009 // Police in Tulsa, Okla., say that a 30 percent drop in auto thefts last year is largely due to officers targeting thieves who snatch cars to make quick cash from scrap metal.Roughly 2,500 vehicles were reported stolen in...

Motorists Mutual Enhances Identity Theft Protection for Businesses

Jan 16 2009 // Motorists Mutual Insurance Co. is helping its commercial policyholders guard against identity theft and minimize the financial impact if a breach occurs.The company introduced its Security Breach Response Service provided...

Boudreaux Appointed to Head Louisiana Insurance Fraud Unit

Jan 16 2009 // Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donelon has named Paul Boudreaux Jr. as the new director of the Insurance Fraud Section at the Louisiana Department of Insurance. Boudreaux replaces Trent Beach who recently took the...

Workers’ Comp Claim on Wrong Eye Leads to Fraud Charges in New York

Jan 16 2009 // A New York man who hurt his eye on the job faces insurance fraud charges after authorities say he falsely filed for workers compensation benefits — on the wrong eye.Authorities say Clyde Stroman, 53, of Elmira,...

Hawaii Auto Insurance Fraud Convictions Increase 61%

Jan 14 2009 // The Insurance Fraud Investigation Unit of the Hawaii State Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs experienced a 61 percent increase in criminal convictions for motor vehicle insurance fraud in 2008 over the previous...

FBI Reports Drop in Crime Including Arson

Jan 12 2009 // The nation experienced a 3.5 percent decline in violent crime and a 2.5 percent decline in property crime for the first six months of 2008, according to the federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).Violent crime was down in...

Mass. Court: Professional Liability Policy Excludes Document Theft

Jan 11 2009 // A document management company that allowed a client’s sensitive documents to be taken is not covered by a professional liability policy with an intellectual property exclusion, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial...

Driven to Desperation, More Insureds Illegally Dumping Cars

Jan 11 2009 // The economic downturn is spurring anxious drivers to fraudulently dump unwanted vehicles for insurance money, according to research by the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud.Officials in nearly a dozen state and local...

Economy and Climate Change Top New Year Agenda

Jan 11 2009 // For the moment the economic recession is driving the global stagecoach, while climate change is riding shotgun, but it’s not as bad as it could be.Reports from Europe point to the fact that the P/C industry’s...

Corporate Fraud Scandals Can Detonate Anywhere

Jan 9 2009 // When it comes to corporate fraud scandals, nowhere is safe.Revelations of a $1 billion fraud at Indian IT firm Satyam Computer Services do not point to a higher systemic risk of accounting scandals in India, or even in...

Four in Florida Charged in $1 Billion Viatical ‘Ponzi’ Scheme

Jan 6 2009 // Four Mutual sales agents with Mutual Benefits Corp., a viatical and life settlement company, for their alleged involvement in a scheme that officials say raised more than $1.25 billion from more than 30,000 investors...

Lloyd’s Analyzes Madoff’s Impact on Professional Liability Coverage

Jan 2 2009 // The ripple effect from Bernard Madoff ‘s Ponzi scheme will inevitably flow across the Atlantic concludes an article on the Lloyd’s web site (www.lloyds.com). For many years Madoff’s fund paid high...

Association of British Insurers Warns of Increasing ‘Front End Fraud’

Dec 31 2008 // The Association of British Insurers has issued a warning that, “people are increasingly putting their insurance cover at risk by cheating to get a better deal.” The ABI said its members, which include most of...

SoCal Hospital Employee Accused of ID Theft

Dec 30 2008 // Officials at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles say more than 1,000 patients have had personal information taken by a former employee, who is alleged to have used the identities to steal from insurance...

Kentucky Police Use Computer Program to Track Stolen Property

Dec 30 2008 // A computer program is helping western Kentucky police track down stolen property that’s been sold to pawn shops.Paducah’s five pawn shops submit records of transactions, including serial numbers of items bought...

Marsh Expects Rise in UK Fraud Insurance Coverage

Dec 23 2008 // Marsh’s London office has issued a bulletin indicating that it “expects a sharp rise in the number of UK companies buying fraud insurance protection next year, as the world economy continues to deteriorate....

Former Pennsylvania Chiropractor to Serve 4 Years for Fraud

Dec 22 2008 // A former chiropractor behind a $12.1 million health insurance fraud that federal prosecutors called the largest in western Pennsylvania history was sentenced to repay the money and spend four years in federal...

Former 49ers Kicker’s Business Partner Sentenced for Insurance Fraud

Dec 19 2008 // An ex-business partner of former San Francisco 49ers kicker Ray Wersching has been sentenced to three years and three months in prison for insurance fraud.Mary Ann Locke was sentenced last week to 39 months in prison and...

Aon Highlights ‘Emerging Risks’ for UK Businesses

Dec 17 2008 // Aon has issued a warning from its London office to UK companies, which indicates that they may “face new insurance claim burdens in 2009 with fraud on the increase and spiraling legal fees.”Aon also said that,...

Ex-New Jersey Politician Sentenced to Prison for Insurance Fraud

Dec 17 2008 // A former New Jersey Assemblyman who is also a Baptist minister has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.Alfred E. Steele pleaded guilty in October 2007 to accepting $15,500 in bribes in exchange for steering...