The 10 Most Common Types of Fraud We Investigate

• October 04, 2016
• by Whitney Joy Smith

What is Fraud?

Fraud (pronounced frôd) is "wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in a financial or personal gain."

As we are accredited members of the better business bureau, we have access to the annual "Top 10 Scams Report" so we are on top of the regular scams and fraud tricks of the industry. However, that can be found online. We would like to outline with you the types of fraud cases we deal with the most as a private investigations agency.

1. Insurance Claim Fraud

Staged accidents and fraudulent claims cost Canadian insurance companies millions of dollars a year from billing for unneeded treatment of phantom injuries. The general types of injuries we see most often that appear fraudulent are soft-tissue injuries like whiplash as well as back and shoulder injuries. Some can be difficult to medically identify and dispute.

2. Workers Compensation W.S.I.B.

We see workers compensation claims on a regular basis. Although some claims are legitimate, in the cases we work on the subject does not display any injuries to match their claim. Some of the types of injuries a worker will make a claim about are back, shoulder, neck, and knee injuries. The injuries we see the most are back injuries.

3. Corporate Slip and Fall

Think of winters in Canada, think of slush on your boots. Think of the times you walk into a store with your boots wet. You clean the snow from your boots while walking in a store. Some individuals will "slip and fall," sparking a claim. Not all claims are false, however several can be. Sometimes the staged accidents are so obvious the subjects are even caught on camera throwing water or some other type of liquid to ensure they slip.

4. Transit Fraud

Most transit companies experience transportation fraud frequently as passengers of buses, subways, and streetcars who are not seated properly or holding onto a rail when the vehicle comes to a stop often fall, which can result in an injury. We also see several cases of arm/shoulder injuries, as well as foot injuries from people who step onto the road while a bus or streetcar is approaching and they allow the bus to run over their feet or place their arm in the way to have a mirror strike them. 

5. Online Classified Fraud

The number of online classifieds are growing and the scams are growing as well. We consistently have clients calling us asking us to assist them in using skip tracing methods to locate the person who scammed them from the item they were buying. Generally, we see this action with vehicles.

6. Ticket Fraud

In Toronto, for instance, we have many major league teams, so the level of ticket fraud is significant. Clients purchase tickets from a website and often find themselves standing at the ticket counter with a ticket that was already used or does not exist.

7. Mechanical Repair Fraud

Although this is not as common, many individuals fall prey to mechanics who advise for services needed when the services are not in fact completed or never needed to be completed. We have placed cameras in vehicles and sent them into shops to find the shops did not do the work they stated was required.

8. Rental Insurance Scams

Insurance companies often hire private investigators to determine any actions that seem suspicious when an individual will take out a large policy covering theft or damages in a home to have then a claim placed that a home was broken into with large amounts of money that are on claim. We will attend to verify what were legitimate purchases speak with friends, neighbors, and colleagues.

9. Expense Claim Fraud

We see this often with large corporations who pay employees a per diem to be out of town for work purposes. The companies will pay a very generous amount per day to the employee including housing. We find in many cases individuals who claim to stay in hotels costing upwards of $200.00 per night staying in campgrounds and cheap hotels for $25-$100 per night and pocketing the rest of the money. 

10. Theft of Inventory

Large companies face the issue of internal theft all the time as employees at times can be left unsupervised and in some scenarios steal product or order more product than is needed. They may also say food products are expired when they are not and take the product they claimed was waste home.

Fraud is common, and as private investigators, we do everything in our power to stop fraud at all costs. We want to see less fraud, so we work diligently to obtain the necessary evidence to stop the career fraudsters.

About the Author

The Smith Investigation Agency is owned by Whitney Joy Smith; Whitney founded her company when she noted a lack of Quality Investigation companies in Ontario. Whitney quickly learned that the most important part of any investigation was not only obtaining the best results possible but building relationships with clients and keeping the client's happiness of the utmost importance. While consulting with many Investigative Agencies Canada-wide Whitney learned that her company would not accept mediocre results, she wanted to outperform and go beyond the client's expectation every time. We don't believe in raising the bar; we stand on the bar!