Auto Insurance Scams

Several years ago a Pennsylvania police officer pulled over a motorist in a routine traffic stop, asked for the driver’s license and registration, and called the 800 number on the back of the insurance card. But what they got was pay-per-minute phone-sex operator. It didn’t take much deductive skill to realize that the insurance card was forged, and over the next few weeks the officer and his partner encountered more and more fake insurance cards.

Forged Insurance Card Production

Forged insurance cards can be produced in minutes on your run-of-the-mill computer by scanning a legitimate insurance card; changing the policy number, vehicle ID number, and issue date; and printing it out. It’s as easy as that. The forged auto insurance cards generally cost between $300 and $500, less than half the cost of a legitimate card.

In some states– such as Pennsylvania and North Carolina, to name a few– don’t require proof of insurance when registering a car, which makes these auto insurance scams that much easier to pull off. In other states you’re required to have proof of insurance, your car’s title, and proper identification. Furthermore, insurance companies that fit into the latter category are typically required to contact the Department of Motor Vehicles if there is an issue with the registered car (e.g. the insurance has lapsed). Then the DMV can suspend the offender’s license and registration, making it easier for the police to catch offenders.

Fake Insurance Card Effects

The problem of auto insurance scams isn’t terribly widespread, but it can affect other people in the community tremendously: In a two-car collision the person with insurance– regardless of whether they were at fault or not– has to foot the bill for the driver with a fake insurance card, which could further increase the first driver’s insurance payments. In addition, if an uninsured driver hits a pedestrian, the victim is forced to pay the hospital bills whether they have health insurance or not.

Statistics on auto insurance scams are scarce, so no one knows exactly how widespread the problem is. Police officers, like the ones who pulled over the suspect with the phone-sex number on his insurance card, are now listing the numbers of the major auto insurance companies in order to check the validity of drivers’ insurance cards with relative ease.

Falsifying insurance is a bad idea. Police are on the lookout for it, and it is costing law-abiding citizens millions. Be aware.

Related Links

• Common Auto Insurance Scams
• Collision Insurance Fraud