Shocking moment moped driver purposefully crashed into car for insurance money. An army of moped scammers target mothers and women drivers in a 'Crash for cash' crime epidemic that can cost victims £40,000 even if they've done nothing wrong.
The revving of the engine felt as though 'something was coming for me', says interior designer Helen Harris.
Helen Harris, pictured with her car and the scammer, was involved in an incident in which a motorbike stages an accident in front of a driver's car so they can claim insurance Such 'crash-for-cash' scams — in which moped or motorcycle riders deliberately induce or stage accidents to fraudulently claim on the insurance of the motorist they've targeted — are an 'epidemic' in the capital city, according to the Insurance Fraud Bureau , a non-profit organisation that helps the industry fight fraud. Birmingham and Manchester are other hotspots.
In the past two or three years, however, there has been a 'huge increase' in scams involving 'a sole rider on a motorcycle,' says Graeme Mulvoy. Pictured: A real-life scamming incident between a motorbike and car They usually throw their moped to the ground and drop to the floor to act out an injury, before taking photographs of the incident.
Helen was driving home alone from a meeting at 6.55pm in Wandsworth when she was targeted. As the moped driver who had flashed her sped off, the second driver hit her stationery car, staying on his bike after he had done so. 'The first thing I said was,"Are you OK?" ' recalls Helen. 'He indicated yes. We were holding up the traffic, so I said we needed to move off the main road.
It was only when a woman who'd witnessed the incident approached them to say she suspected Helen was the victim of a scam that she realised exactly what was going on. The report concluded that the moped was 'beyond economical repair' and would cost £2,667.70 to fix, which was over £500 more than its current value.
Stuart Stevens, head of Policy and Commercial Fraud at Direct Line, said the company had 'detected an increase in fraudsters riding mopeds and motorcycles who deliberately cause accidents'. Waiting to turn right, she edged slowly forward just enough for a bus driver coming in the opposite direction to turn left into her narrow side street. As she did so, a man on a scooter overtook the bus and headed straight towards her BMW.
'He kept saying that he couldn't speak English. All he said was,"Give me your name and phone number." I said,"I'm not giving you my personal details because this is fraudulent." ' 'I was so angry and upset,' says Gina. Her insurer, Admiral, also received a copy of the letter. 'They said they had to act like it wasn't a fraud,' she adds.
If you suspect a crash has been induced, take 'photos and videos of your vehicle, the other vehicle and the"accident" scene to document the location and any damage'.
'There were some scuffs on my bumper. The only thing that came off his bike — which was so battered it was held together with tape — was a bit of plastic.' Joanna decided it wasn't worth making a claim on her insurance. But it was only when she spoke to another mum that afternoon that she realised she'd fallen prey to a wider scam — and there was a WhatsApp group with more than 100 local people all with very similar stories. Shockingly, some had even been targeted twice.
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