Workers’ compensation fraud is often difficult to prove. Even when a claim is denied, it can be challenged by an attorney, and an insurance company can find themselves paying out compensation to someone they suspect of fraud. In some cases, there may be no suspicion of fraud, but the discovery of fraud occurs accidentally because the fraudster has made a mistake. The following are four mistakes that are made by those who are defrauding insurance companies because of fake injuries and how our services can help in documenting them during a worker’s comp investigation.
- They get another job.
While collecting workers’ compensation, an individual may find other work. Getting a check for sitting at home is not enough for some people. Without any physical injury, a person may want to earn more money at another job. This is a simple case of greed. Often, an employer will get a tip about their injured worker, and this from an employee who is angered by seeing their coworker getting an undeserved workers’ compensation check. At this point, the insurance company will be alerted, and we can help document this type of fraud in several ways, including video. - They are seen in public doing physical activities.
These are activities that they should not be capable of, if their work related injuries are real. This is a classic mistake that a fraudster makes. After their claim is approved and they begin to receive money, they let their guard down. They can be seen doing things that are supposed to be impossible. An example would be a person with a back injury, not capable of lifting more than a pound of weight, seen lifting heavy items from their car after returning from the store. In some cases, people claim limited mobility, but can be seen walking around or even running. These types of mistakes can be caught on video, and the fraudster will have been caught. - They post pictures of their activities on social media.
People enjoy social media, but they fail to understand how widespread their postings can circulate. One of the biggest mistakes a fraudster will make is posting pictures of a vacation they took or other fun activity they recently engaged in that is impossible for them given their claim of injury. It is true that there is security for some these sites, so the information is private and limited to a small circle of people, but fraudsters often make the mistake of not taking security precautions. - They are turned in.
One of the biggest mistakes that a fraudster makes is letting others know that they are receiving workers’ compensation for an injury. A fraudster may think that relatives, friends and neighbors will not know what they are doing, or if they suspect fraud, they will not say anything, but hard working people become irritated seeing others get money for nothing. They are actually a large source of fraud tips.
If you suspect that someone is defrauding the workers’ compensation system, we can do a full worker’s compensation investigation of the individual, both legally and discreetly. They may have already made a mistake or are currently making mistakes that we can document for your company. Contact us today, so we can hear the specifics of the situation, and we can give you an idea of how our services can help you.
Bruce Robertson
Latest posts by Bruce Robertson (see all)
- Accelerate Employee & Witness Outreach - Oct 30, 2023
- Overcome Employee Research Obstacles in Labor & Employment Cases - Oct 25, 2023
- Advice on Conducting Defendant Research in California Litigation - Oct 11, 2023
