California targets fraud scams: Insurance chief says consumers pick up the tab for crimes

Steve Poizner figures insurance scams cost each California consumer an extra $500 a year for coverage.

Vowing to come down on insurance cheats “like a ton of bricks,” the insurance commissioner has put fraud high on his agenda during his first 100 days and launched a crackdown across the state.

“Insurance fraud is so rampant in California that it causes insurance to be more expensive than it needs to be,” Poizner said Tuesday during a noontime speech to the Sacramento Press Club. “We'’re going to attack fraud aggressively and drive down costs.”

States are taking a more proactive approach to fighting insurance fraud, with a 6.4 percent overall rise in fraud convictions between 2004 and 2005, according to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud.

In its recent study of 47 state agencies, CAIF said state fraud bureaus are delivering record results in combating swindles, but the positive figures may mask deeper weaknesses in some areas.

“For the most part, fraud fighters are priming the pipelines with fresh cases that could create a new generation of convictions in the years ahead,” the report indicated. “Still, the lack of growth in convictions and cases opened is cause for concern.”

State Insurance Commissioner Julie Benafield Bowman said Wednesday that a suspected insurance fraud ringleader, Frederick Watson, has turned himself in to Little Rock Police.

The state Insurance Department said Watson is alleged to have masterminded a car crash ring operation that defrauded insurance companies of hundreds of thousands of dollars over 12 years.

Among his alleged accomplices were his cousin, Mark Watson, and Rebekah Rahn, both of whom were arrested Monday.

You might groan each time you get your car insurance bill, knowing it’s a necessary evil.

But you may not know that you’re actually over paying for protection thanks, in part, to scammers. One in three car insurance claims from crashes is likely fraudulent due to staged accidents and other schemes. WAVE 3’s Carrie Weil has more on insurance fraud.

Car accidents happen every day, in every town — and so does insurance fraud. “It is so hard to get people interested in this issue because people think it’s OK,” said Julie McPeak, Executive Director of the Kentucky Department of Insurance.

In fact, in a national survey, one in four Americans said it’s OK to defraud insurance companies. But think about this: insurance fraud adds about $300 a year to your insurance premiums.

Real estate fraud is on the rise. Knowing the popular scams out there and knowing how to protect against this type of criminal activity is essential.

Real estate fraud is an umbrella term for criminal activity involving real estate – criminal activity that usually amounts to little more than theft. According to new statistics, the problem seems to be getting worse. The FBI reported that in 2005 alone, real estate fraud cost the country at least $606 million. The Treasury Department is tracking 35% more suspicious through 2006. The IRS reports that cases of mortgage fraud that have been brought to their attention have been doubling every two years, starting with this decade. This worrisome trend means that all real estate investors and homeowners should be on the alert.
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A Camden County man was arrested when he came here to meet a person who he thought was a 14-year-old boy for a sexual encounter, Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey S. Blitz said Wednesday. The “child” was an undercover investigator.

Anthony Mastrando, 48, a postal carrier from Covington Drive in the Sicklerville section of Winslow Township, was charged with attempting to lure a minor to sexually assault the child and attempted sexual assault, Blitz said.

Mastrando, who is involved with youth groups at Covenant House and his church in Sicklerville, is being held in the Atlantic County jail on $100,000 cash bond, no 10 percent, Blitz said. Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury made a condition of bail that Mastrando have no contact with children under the age of 18.

20th Century Fox served YouTube with a subpoena Wednesday

20th Century Fox served YouTube with a subpoena Wednesday demanding the Google-owned viral video site disclose the identity of a user who uploaded copies of entire recent episodes of primetime series “24″ and “The Simpsons.”

The subpoena, which first came to light on the blog Google Watch was granted by a judge in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California after being filed by the News Corp.-owned studio on Jan. 18. It is not yet known whether YouTube has complied with the request.

In addition, a second, lesser-known video site, LiveDigital, was also served with a similar subpoena.

A Fox spokesman confirmed the subpoena was filed to both YouTube and LiveDigital and served but declined further comment. A spokesman for YouTube declined comment.

The “24″ episodes in question actually appeared on YouTube prior to their primetime Jan. 14 premiere on the Fox broadcast network, which spread four hourlong episodes of the hit drama over two consecutive nights. Fox became aware the episodes were on YouTube on Jan. 8, according to the subpoena.

Phony e-mail seeks personal information, threatens to close accounts

The U.S. Social Security Administration is warning the public about a fraudulent e-mail purporting to be from the agency and designed to lure users into divulging personal information.

In a statement published on its Web site, the SSA said it has received several reports of an e-mail being circulated with the subject header of “Cost-of-Living for 2007 update.” The e-mail is designed to appear as if it were from the agency and provides information about a 3.3% benefit increase for 2007. It then proceeds to ask the recipient for personal information warning that those who failed to provide it by Nov. 11 would have their accounts suspended indefinitely.

The mail contains a link to a Web site designed to look like the official one where users are asked for information such as Social Security numbers, as well as bank account and credit card information, the statement said.

A couple was behind bars Thursday and facing a slate of criminal charges for allegedly bilking more than $50,000 from an elderly North County man and his wife, both of whom are blind and suffer from dementia.

Investigators arrested Robert Gregory Holman, 33, and his 48-year-old wife, Gina Marie Trevino, on Sept. 1 on suspicion of several counts each of financial elder abuse.

Sheriff’s officials announced Thursday morning that they will seek nearly two dozen additional charges — including conspiracy, caretaker theft, grand theft auto and credit fraud — against the suspects at their arraignment next week.

A tactic once mentioned by Andrew Cuomo to fight Medicaid fraud is “weak-kneed,” Republican candidate for attorney general Jeanine Pirro told a group of business leaders at a meeting Friday.

Cuomo has suggested the state should look at establishing an amnesty period that would allow those who have cheated the Medicaid system, which pays for the health care of poor people, to pay back what they have stolen and escape prosecution. Pirro said that’s not a strong-enough approach.

“I think amnesty is a weak-kneed idea,” she said.

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