Even supposed good Samaritans are getting in on the schemes. Shannon Egeland told his disability insurance company he stopped to help a pregnant woman stranded on a roadside late one summer night near Caldwell, Idaho. He said it was an ambush and someone snuck up and shot him, shattering his legs and forcing surgeons to amputate his left foot. The truth was he told his son to shoot him so he could file an insurance claim.
“One of America’s largest financial crimes, insurance fraud, steals at least $80 billion annually. Too many Americans tolerate fraud and are at risk of committing this crime,” says Dennis Jay, executive director of the coalition, which is a nonprofit made up of 150 organizations representing insurance companies, businesses, consumers and others. “Innocent people are traumatized, maimed and lose their savings. Some die. Consumers everywhere pay higher premiums. Insurance cheats need to know they’ll be found and prosecuted.”
Most of these fraudsters and some of their accomplices are in jail or awaiting sentencing, according to the organization.