He warned against falling into the traps: the number of scams on the roads increased by almost a third

“Today we hear more often that scam artists are searching for their victims online or by phone, but it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that in recent years scammers have been active on the streets, roads and even in parking lots,” says Artūras Juodeikis , Director of the Claims Department of Lietuvos Draudimas. The company’s specialists investigate an average of two new cases each day, where scammers try to illegally obtain an insurance benefit and take advantage of transportation damage.

In the first quarter of this year, the insured attempted to make illegal profits to receive insurance benefits that did not belong to them. Most of the evidence consists of increasing losses and falsifying the circumstances of the event.

“In analyzing the information collected, we note cases where the person reporting the damage indicates damage that is not related to a specific traffic accident. The goal is to make a profit using someone else’s liability insurance,” says A Juodeikis.

The insurance company recorded that the number of frauds detected last year was 29 percent higher than the previous year. The number of cases in which a person contracts insurance after an accident and applies to insurers to obtain a benefit illegally has increased more, even four times.

There have been more than double the number of fraud cases in increased losses. According to Lietuvos Draudimas, a total of 615 cases of fraud related to transport damage were registered last year. The average amount of payment illegally attempted was almost 2.9 thousand. euros During the year, attempts were made to illegally obtain uninsured insurance benefits of 1.75 million. This amount has increased even more this year, only in the first quarter there was a fraudulent attempt to claim 770 thousand euros.

According to the insurance expert, drivers also suffer from so-called “drivers” who intentionally cause accidents. These scammers are well versed in traffic regulations and exploit the negligence of other road users. Sometimes they cause accidents in the same places several times in a row, and the authors do not realize that they are trapped by “traffickers”. According to A. Juodeikis, “traffickers” are generally issued for the history of their traffic accidents. Suspecting that the circumstances may be falsified or that the event was intentionally caused, insurance experts generally refer the damaged material to the police for investigation.

R. Juodeikis notes that a smartphone or video recorder is one of the most effective tools not only to help clients protect themselves from scammers, but also to resolve claims more smoothly and remotely.

“The position of the vehicles, the tire tracks on the asphalt and even the debris can become important details as experts recreate the image of the accident. Video recorder recordings can also provide a lot of useful information, ”says A. Juodeikis.