Although stories about unsuccessful fraud attempts and ineptwould-be scam artists often are amusing, insurance fraud is aserious crime that costs consumers a lot of money, according to theProgressive group of insurance companies.

“People think of insurance fraud as a victimless crime when, infact, honest policyholders end up being victimized,” said RayAlbertini, Progressive's national director of specialinvestigations. “Most insurance companies base their rates on thecost of doing business. When costs go up because of fraudulentclaims, other customers end up paying the price.”

Although combating fraud is not an easy task, some haplessoffenders make it less difficult. Progressive recently published alist of attempted frauds by criminals who were not quitemasterminds.

One fairly common type of fraud is buying coverage afteraccidents have occurred. What is less common is buying it from thescene of the accident. One motorcyclist, while lying on the side ofthe road with a ruptured spleen, had the presence of mind totelephone Progressive to buy coverage. A witness who had seen theaccident also heard him make the call. In another case, a couple'scar caught on fire. While the husband was on the phone trying topurchase a policy, his wife was overheard yelling in the backgroundthat the car was about to explode.

Some people figure that the easiest and quickest way to collectinsurance money is to destroy their vehicles by setting them onfire. In a recent example, two brothers were hired to burn a car.They doused it with gasoline and, to make sure that it would becompletely destroyed, decided to throw in a pipe bomb. The bombexploded, setting one of the men on fire. Although he likely waskilled instantly from the explosion, his brother, not realizingthat, rushed to extinguish the flames and ended up catching onfire. He ran toward a nearby highway for help and flagged down astate trooper who had come to investigate the black cloud of smoke.The man told the trooper what he and his brother had done and thendied from his injuries.

One creative policyholder submitted a claim for parts that hesaid had been stolen from his car. To support his claim, heprovided what appeared to be phony invoices along with Polaroidphotos. On closer inspection, investigators realized that the manhad taken close-ups of a toy car that was the same color and makeof his insured vehicle.

A passenger riding in a customer's car was injured in a crashand needed chiropractic treatment. Sometime before completing theprescribed series of doctor visits, the passenger died ofunrelated, natural causes. The chiropractor continued to bill fortreatment for a full month after the patient's death.

“People may laugh at some of these incidents, but what they needto realize is that people who commit fraud are taking money out ofeveryone else's pockets,” reiterated Albertini. “People need to beaware of fraud and be willing to report it when they suspectit.”