Results from a recent follow-up study released by the Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority (IFPA) indicate that residents are responding to a statewide effort to increase awareness about the consequences of fraud.

The study evaluated the reactions of 1,000 Pennsylvania adults to a range of potentially fraudulent situations in order to determine the effectiveness of an anti-fraud campaign launched in 2009. Interviewers at Franklin and Marshall College's Center for Opinion Research presented the participants with typical fraud scenarios, then asked them a series of questions to gauge whether or not they believed the behavior was wrong, whether it should result in jail time, and how likely it is that someone who committed the actions would be caught.

The results of the follow-up study were released on January 26, 2011, and reveal that the number of consumers who “strongly agree” that insurance fraud is classified with the most serious types of crime has increased by 33 percent from the initial survey conducted before the campaign's launch. The interviewees' answers also indicate that more people understand what insurance fraud is, and that it is classified as a felony. Respondents' awareness of both the presence and use of anti-fraud technology by insurance companies has also increased by 19 percent.