Special agent to National Insurance Crime Bureau: "anecdotally the economic recession i... - 0 views
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the FBI is aligning a lot more investigators to look into actual economic fraud investigations versus insurance fraud investigations.
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"Fraud bureaus are telling us this, we're hearing it from the state fire marshals, and we're hearing about it anecdotally through news stories. It's clear that as the economy has gone down, the opportunity to commit fraud, to recover monies they think they need, has increased."
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And with anywhere from $80 billion to $200 billion lost to fraud each year, affecting all lines of the insurance business — health, property, casualty, life and disability — it's no wonder that states are concerned with combating it.
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NICB has seen a "pretty significant' trend in medical identity theft and provider fraud, according to McKee. This is when someone steals a person's identity, and medical and insurance information, then submits fraudulent bills to the insurance company for treatment the person did not receive. The check goes back to the fraudulent company, and the person is unaware that his or her identity was stolen or is being used for fraud, he explained.
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Does a bad economy increase crime? Analysts have debated that question for years, according to Mike McKee, senior special agent for the National Insurance Crime Bureau. While it's too soon for statistics to confirm whether recent events like the mortgage meltdown and an increase in unemployment truly lead consumers to commit more crimes, McKee said at least anecdotally the economic recession is affecting insurance fraud.