But, he said, evidence indicates that states such as New Jersey and Pennsylvania are making headway against fraud with innovative billboard campaigns.

According to Mr. Jay, one key weapon in fighting insurance fraud is parental desire to maintain a good image with their family. "It turns out one of the great fears any parent had who was contemplating fraud was being branded a criminal before their children," he said.

Potential fraudsters, he said, fall into four categories, with the so-called "moralists" who would never even consider the crime making up 31 percent. "If we could get that figure up to 50 percent, then we will have made a great head start," Mr. Jay said.

The three other categories have a varying degree of tolerance for the practice, with a hard core comprised of 21 percent of the public that believes all governments and institutions are corrupt and ripe for defrauding.

But opinions have changed from the previous decade when even law enforcement personnel turned a blind eye to insurance theft, Mr. Jay said.

As an example of past attitudes, he recalled "talking to one Texas prosecutor some time ago who said 'You can't tell me insurance fraud is a crime. Now you show me a horse thief–that is a crime.'"

According to Mr. Jay, the number of insurance fraud bureaus has gone from 12 ten years ago to 41, while the number of prosecutors specifically assigned to insurance fraud now stands at 116 in 23 states.

New Jersey tops the list with 42, but Mr. Jay noted that many states have only one person specifically designated to bring insurance cases. "So the number is not as impressive as it might appear," he said.