0:00:05 > 0:00:09Insurance fraud has reached epidemic levels in the UK.
0:00:09 > 0:00:14It's costing us more than £1.3 billion every year.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17That's almost 3.6 million every day.
0:00:19 > 0:00:24Deliberate crashes, bogus personal injuries, even phantom pets.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29The fraudsters are risking more and more to make a quick killing,
0:00:29 > 0:00:34and every year, it's adding around £50 to your insurance bill.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36But insurers are fighting back,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39exposing just under 15 fake claims every hour.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41Armed with covert surveillance systems...
0:00:41 > 0:00:44That's the subject out the vehicle.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47..sophisticated data analysis techniques...
0:00:48 > 0:00:51- Police!- ..and a number of highly skilled police units...
0:00:51 > 0:00:53Police! Don't move, stay where you are.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57- ..they're catching the criminals red-handed.- Just don't lie to us.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01All those con-men, scammers, and cheats on the fiddle
0:01:01 > 0:01:04are now caught in the act, and claimed and shamed.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14A simple speeding ticket leads to the bust of
0:01:14 > 0:01:16a sophisticated fraud operation...
0:01:17 > 0:01:19The scale of the fraud was massive.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22..a DIY enthusiast who attempted to defraud
0:01:22 > 0:01:26his insurance sees his claim come crumbling down.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Not only would we have to cancel the policy,
0:01:28 > 0:01:31but we'd also have to seek the money back,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34for the sums that we paid for the replacement of the items.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38..and a gamble that a betting shop wasn't fitted with CCTV
0:01:38 > 0:01:41doesn't pay out.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48When dealing with large scale frauds,
0:01:48 > 0:01:52sometimes it's the smallest mistake that cracks the case wide open.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55In this case, a simple speed camera fine led to
0:01:55 > 0:01:59a fraud that was worth almost a quarter of a million pounds.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04If a motorist is caught speeding on camera,
0:02:04 > 0:02:06it's a straightforward process.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09A form is sent out to the registered owner of the car, and they're
0:02:09 > 0:02:12asked to fill in the details of who was driving at the time.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15That person then receives an appropriate penalty.
0:02:17 > 0:02:22Some try and cheat the system by entering false details.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24However, officers like PC Graham Radcliffe of the
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Greater Manchester Police are there to catch them.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32The case first came to light when a Mercedes car activated two
0:02:32 > 0:02:35speed cameras, one in Manchester, and one in the Midlands.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Information was sent to the owner of the Mercedes to find out
0:02:40 > 0:02:43who was driving the car when it was caught speeding.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45The forms were returned to the police,
0:02:45 > 0:02:47saying that a woman had been behind the wheel.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51That woman was subsequently convicted.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55But there was a twist - she'd NEVER been in the car.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58She wasn't aware of the fact that she'd been nominated in the
0:02:58 > 0:03:02first place, and it was as a result of her subsequently complaining
0:03:02 > 0:03:07the fact that she'd been wrongly convicted that my inquiry began.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09Little did he know where it would lead,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12or what he was about to uncover.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15Graham established that the woman was indeed telling the truth.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18She had nothing to do with the speeding Mercedes.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23Complex investigations into how this woman's name had wrongly ended up
0:03:23 > 0:03:27on the form led Graham to an accident management company,
0:03:27 > 0:03:29called Optimum Claim Solutions,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32owned by a man called Jason Brown.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39The company did have some legitimate business,
0:03:39 > 0:03:42but Graham was quickly able to establish that Brown was
0:03:42 > 0:03:46involved in some very dubious activities indeed.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49He'd found that he could make more money out of falsely creating
0:03:49 > 0:03:52accidents and making claims,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55particularly very high credit hire claims for hire cars,
0:03:55 > 0:03:59for accidents that never existed, and personal injury claims.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04So, Brown was using his accident management company illegally
0:04:04 > 0:04:06in two distinct ways.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Firstly, he'd make up totally imaginary accidents and claim
0:04:09 > 0:04:12that passengers had been injured in order to get pay-outs
0:04:12 > 0:04:13from insurance companies.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17He'd also tell insurers that he'd provided very expensive hire cars
0:04:17 > 0:04:21for people waiting for their crashed cars to be fixed.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25Again, the accidents would be totally fictitious.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28Graham arrested Jason Brown,
0:04:28 > 0:04:32and both his home and business premises were thoroughly searched.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35What was uncovered was clearly a large scale fraud in relation
0:04:35 > 0:04:38to false credit hire claims to insurance companies
0:04:38 > 0:04:42following accidents, accidents which never happened.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48Graham worked closely with those companies
0:04:48 > 0:04:50who had been targeted by Brown.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53One of them was insurance providers Allianz.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56Mihir Pandya heads up their fraud department.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02As it turned out, Jason Brown was already on their radar.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05His vehicle had allegedly been involved in an accident
0:05:05 > 0:05:08resulting in multiple whiplash claims.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10The total value of the claims submitted to us was in
0:05:10 > 0:05:12the region of £30,000.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15A significant sum, and not something that would be paid out
0:05:15 > 0:05:17no questions asked.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22When we receive claims of this kind, it's routine to do some enquiries.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26Almost immediately, they discovered fundamental problems.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28So many discrepancies.
0:05:28 > 0:05:29Some of the people were getting...
0:05:29 > 0:05:31Which car they were in, they were getting that wrong.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34They were using old addresses for Jason Brown when they were
0:05:34 > 0:05:37asked to say what details they'd just swapped.
0:05:37 > 0:05:42It even transpired that another car - the premium for that
0:05:42 > 0:05:45insurance was paid by Jason Brown himself.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49The multiple inconsistencies and the apparent links back to Brown
0:05:49 > 0:05:51called the whole claim into question.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54We started to have suspicions that this, in fact,
0:05:54 > 0:05:59was a staged motor accident, so we contacted Mr Brown.
0:06:55 > 0:07:00He ignored our letters. We tried to call him, he ignored our calls.
0:07:00 > 0:07:01After a few months,
0:07:01 > 0:07:03all the claims for the whiplash injuries were dropped.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05Thought that was the end of the matter,
0:07:05 > 0:07:09and it was a year later when Greater Manchester Police contacted us.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Still to come -
0:07:12 > 0:07:16the police uncover yet more of Brown's insurance fraud shenanigans.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18He's just become over-confident with the fact that
0:07:18 > 0:07:23he can get away with it, but didn't think it through properly.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Now, when you pop down to the shops, the last thing on your mind
0:07:29 > 0:07:34is getting hurt, but accidents can and do happen anywhere.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36Most shops make sure they have insurance,
0:07:36 > 0:07:38so if someone is injured on their premises,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41and it's in some way deemed to be the shop's fault,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44then the injured person can be properly compensated,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47and the pay-outs can be quite hefty.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57Royal Sun Alliance provides insurance for many retailers,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00and it's John Beadle's job to make sure that, when someone makes
0:08:00 > 0:08:04a claim against one of his clients, it's 100% legit.
0:08:05 > 0:08:11It's not unusual for people to put in spurious claims alleging
0:08:11 > 0:08:15that they'd suffered injury in premises such as supermarkets,
0:08:15 > 0:08:17and numerous other locations,
0:08:17 > 0:08:21but all these premises are routinely covered by CCTV,
0:08:21 > 0:08:23and it is amazing, really,
0:08:23 > 0:08:27that people still attempt to make these kind of allegations,
0:08:27 > 0:08:32which are clearly refuted by a simple review of the CCTV footage.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34So, when you're out doing your shopping,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37never forget Big Brother is watching you.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Back in 2015, one of John Beadle's team members received
0:08:42 > 0:08:46a call from a man who had fallen over in a shop that RSA cover.
0:08:48 > 0:08:49So, in this particular case,
0:08:49 > 0:08:53the allegation was that they'd entered a betting shop,
0:08:53 > 0:08:55from a well-known high street chain,
0:08:55 > 0:08:59and had slipped on a wet floor, causing injury.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05It was slightly unbelievable, but not impossible.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07I guess somebody could have spilled a drink,
0:09:07 > 0:09:09or it might have been raining outside
0:09:09 > 0:09:13but, of course, the first thing we would do in such circumstances
0:09:13 > 0:09:16would be to review the CCTV.
0:09:18 > 0:09:19Unbeknownst to the claimant,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22the betting shop was covered by CCTV cameras.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25And from the moment they reviewed the footage,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28the odds were firmly stacked against this particular gambler.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37You see, they didn't slip on the wet floor at all.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41It was a mistake by the person in sitting down on his stool,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43which caused him to fall.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47The gentleman just puts the stool too far in,
0:09:47 > 0:09:52and when he goes to sit down, he actually falls off the back of it.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55The claimant clearly hadn't known that he was being watched
0:09:55 > 0:09:58by security cameras, and this was his major slip-up.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00Frankly, when we first got this claim,
0:10:00 > 0:10:04we couldn't believe that the person was making it,
0:10:04 > 0:10:08because it's quite clear what the cause of the accident was,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11and it was nobody's fault but his own.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14When confronted with the evidence, the claimant understood that,
0:10:14 > 0:10:19like him, the story just didn't stand up.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22We told him that, as a result of this investigation,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25we would not be paying this claim,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28and he clearly must have thought twice about it,
0:10:28 > 0:10:30and the claim went away.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34John's investigations had put a stop to RSA having to pay out
0:10:34 > 0:10:38compensation of around £6,000 for this clearly dishonest claim.
0:10:40 > 0:10:45Insurers are wise to this type of spurious claim.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48We will investigate each and every case fully.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51There is no quick pot of gold available here.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58My advice to people is - don't do this, you will get caught,
0:10:58 > 0:11:02and there can be severe penalties if you are found guilty of fraud.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11Earlier on, we examined a case where a simple speed camera investigation
0:11:11 > 0:11:17led to the exposure of professional insurance fraudster, Jason Brown.
0:11:17 > 0:11:18Brown owned a claims management company,
0:11:18 > 0:11:20called Optimum Claim Solutions,
0:11:20 > 0:11:24that was proving to be involved in an array of fraudulent scams,
0:11:24 > 0:11:28including claims for accidents that were totally imaginary.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Things weren't looking good for Brown.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38He was already in custody at Greater Manchester Police,
0:11:38 > 0:11:41when his solicitor turned up with arms full of evidence
0:11:41 > 0:11:44he thought would help the case.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47A bundle of files were left at the front desk.
0:11:47 > 0:11:53Because these files were left, I looked at them.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56And Graham didn't like what he saw.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59One of the cases involved in this fraud was this same Mercedes
0:11:59 > 0:12:02that had activated these speed cameras.
0:12:02 > 0:12:07This car had allegedly been involved in a collision, in Failsworth,
0:12:07 > 0:12:11what we call a three-car shunt, and the Mercedes was the fault car.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13And the person recorded as being the driver of the Mercedes at
0:12:13 > 0:12:15that time was the registered keeper.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18I knew, because I'd previously interviewed him,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21that he'd never had possession of that car, so straightaway,
0:12:21 > 0:12:23this accident was likely to be a fraudulent one.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27Another red flag was the high occupancy rate of the vehicles,
0:12:27 > 0:12:30in particular the first car, which was a people carrier.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32It's supposed to have had seven people in it, and I think
0:12:32 > 0:12:35there were seven claimants to the insurance company for
0:12:35 > 0:12:37personal injuries in relation to that vehicle.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40And there were another two personal injury claims
0:12:40 > 0:12:41from the middle vehicle.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43The more claims, the bigger the pay-out.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47As if this wasn't enough to discredit the claim,
0:12:47 > 0:12:49there was a final nail in the coffin.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52As it transpired in the inquiry,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55all three of those vehicles were insured by Jason Brown.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01Well, the whole job was clearly fraudulent.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06The three-car collision in Failsworth was another
0:13:06 > 0:13:08made-up accident, and, of course,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11the seven people claiming to be injured were full of lies, too.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15But it was just the tip of the iceberg.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17Graham recovered another 400 files from
0:13:17 > 0:13:20a residential address linked to Brown.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23The scale of the fraud was massive.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26Around £225,000.
0:13:26 > 0:13:27Another scam that Brown was pulling
0:13:27 > 0:13:29off was duping multiple insurers
0:13:29 > 0:13:33into paying for the same hire car to act as a replacement vehicle.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35One car appeared on numerous claims.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40That particular vehicle, on one occasion,
0:13:40 > 0:13:43was allegedly out on hire to two people at the same time.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46One of those, for the value,
0:13:46 > 0:13:50or the value put in to the insurance company, was £40,000 plus.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53The evidence was mounting substantially against
0:13:53 > 0:13:56Jason Brown, when Graham's investigations uncovered
0:13:56 > 0:13:59yet another accident that looked likely to be fictitious,
0:13:59 > 0:14:01this time involving two cars.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09One of the drivers was a man called Billy Barnett, who had also
0:14:09 > 0:14:13featured as a passenger in the previous Failsworth collision.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Billy Barnett was Jason Brown's step-son.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Graham managed to get hold of the original phone call between
0:14:21 > 0:14:23Billy Barnett and the insurance company.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48The most striking thing about the phone call
0:14:48 > 0:14:50is that it's not actually Barnett.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53It's Brown, pretending to be Barnett.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56My feelings are that he's just become over-confident
0:14:56 > 0:14:59with the fact that he can get away with it,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02so I think he felt brave in making this telephone conversation,
0:15:02 > 0:15:04and felt he could ad lib his way through it,
0:15:04 > 0:15:06but didn't think it through properly.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09Brown's arrogance also extended to the methods
0:15:09 > 0:15:12he used to recruit people to take part in his scam,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16revealed when Graham interviewed the alleged injured passengers.
0:15:16 > 0:15:21The majority said that they were recruited whilst they were
0:15:21 > 0:15:25out drinking in a pub, or stopped on the street.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28What they were saying is, yeah, they did commit the fraud,
0:15:28 > 0:15:32but they were recruited for it actively.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35The person doing the recruiting was Jason Brown.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39In the space of 12 months, Graham's work had mushroomed from
0:15:39 > 0:15:42a case of speeding fines into fraud on an exceptional scale.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46During the course of this investigation,
0:15:46 > 0:15:49I arrested 24 suspects.
0:15:49 > 0:15:56There were 154 statements taken, and around 1,000 exhibits.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58The ringleader, Jason Brown,
0:15:58 > 0:16:02and others who had played an active part, were brought to justice.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05There was no arguing with the evidence against them.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10Everybody that was charged with the fraud-related offences
0:16:10 > 0:16:11pleaded guilty.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16The judge came down hard on the ringleader of the £225,000 scam.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19Jason Brown, the main man in the inquiry,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22was sentenced to five years and two months.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25And every penny he dishonestly made will have to be returned.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30If he doesn't pay back the £200,000,
0:16:30 > 0:16:34then that will ultimately result in him serving an extra term of
0:16:34 > 0:16:38imprisonment, and the figure will remain with him for life.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41It was a fitting end to Graham's 30-year police career.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44He has since retired from the force.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47It was ultimately going to be me last inquiry.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49It didn't set out that way, when I first took the case,
0:16:49 > 0:16:53because I didn't think it was going to turn into what it did turn into.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57Were it not for the speed fines, Jason Brown might have got away with
0:16:57 > 0:17:00his scam for longer, but he didn't count on the determination
0:17:00 > 0:17:04of Graham and his team to bring him to justice.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07The fact that it was my last job,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10I am quite proud of it and the outcome,
0:17:10 > 0:17:13specifically because I put so much into it.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22Now, everything is bigger in the US, nowhere more than in Texas,
0:17:22 > 0:17:24the Lone Star State.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26For Texan fraudsters,
0:17:26 > 0:17:28it's not enough to simply fake a personal injury.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30They go further.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32Much further.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44A few years ago, a tragic motor accident claimed the life of
0:17:44 > 0:17:47Clayton Daniels, husband of Molly Daniels.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54He died when his car burst into flames after leaving the road,
0:17:54 > 0:17:56and plummeting down a cliff.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01The fire was so intense
0:18:01 > 0:18:04that Clayton's body was burned beyond recognition.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08Molly and her two young children were left devastated.
0:18:12 > 0:18:17Luckily, Clayton had taken out a 110,000 life insurance policy,
0:18:17 > 0:18:20so Molly and the kids wouldn't have to struggle.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25In fact, far from going to pieces,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28Molly seemed to take the heartbreaking loss in her stride.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34A Texas Ranger, who spoke to her, noted that she was strangely calm
0:18:34 > 0:18:36throughout the interview,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39and, only a few weeks later, it emerged that Molly
0:18:39 > 0:18:44had embarked on a new relationship, with a man called Jake Gregg.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47But the new life Molly had created was a fiction,
0:18:47 > 0:18:50and the whole thing was about to crash and burn.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58Right from the start, there had been question marks about the accident.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00No skid marks had been found on the road,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03indicating that there had been no attempt to brake,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06and the fire that destroyed the car had originated in the
0:19:06 > 0:19:09driver's seat, not the fuel tank.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12What's more, it had been accelerated by lighter fluid.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18But what really brought the insurance claim to
0:19:18 > 0:19:21a dead halt was evidence from the body in the car.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Investigators took one DNA sample from the corpse,
0:19:26 > 0:19:28and one from Clayton Daniels' mother.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31There should have been a match, but when the results came back,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34there was a shock in store.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36The body wasn't Daniels'.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42The police went back to search the new couple's home, and found a
0:19:42 > 0:19:46forged birth certificate and a fake driver's licence under the name
0:19:46 > 0:19:48Jacob Alexander Gregg.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50So, who was Molly's new man?
0:19:53 > 0:19:55Step forward...Clayton Daniels.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01The fiery car accident had been staged to get an insurance pay-out.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Afterwards, Clayton had laid low,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07and then re-emerged with a different hairdo and a new identity,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10but that still left the question of the body in the car.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17And here's where things took a much darker turn.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23It turned out that Clayton had done the unthinkable -
0:20:23 > 0:20:26he had dug up the grave of an 81-year-old woman,
0:20:26 > 0:20:30called Charlotte Davis, who had been dead for six months.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34He had then dressed her body in his clothes, placed her in the car,
0:20:34 > 0:20:37set it alight, and then pushed it off the edge of the cliff.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43When police investigated Clayton further,
0:20:43 > 0:20:45it emerged that he was also wanted for skipping bail
0:20:45 > 0:20:48after pleading guilty to other serious crimes.
0:20:50 > 0:20:51Molly revealed her true colours
0:20:51 > 0:20:55when she tried to explain why they targeted Charlotte.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58According to her, "We felt, because she was older,
0:20:58 > 0:21:00"there would not be much family impact, if any."
0:21:03 > 0:21:07But the jury totally disagreed when the case went to trial.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12They awarded Molly the maximum sentence for her crimes,
0:21:12 > 0:21:1520 years behind bars.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19Clayton also received 20 years for insurance fraud, 15 years for arson,
0:21:19 > 0:21:23and ten for desecration of a cemetery, to be served concurrently.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34Coming home to find out that you've been broken into
0:21:34 > 0:21:35is always distressing.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39It is a horrible feeling, knowing someone has been inside your house.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42Taking out home insurance helps soften the blow,
0:21:42 > 0:21:43in case of a theft,
0:21:43 > 0:21:46and gives us the peace of mind that, if we're broken into,
0:21:46 > 0:21:50we'll be reimbursed financially, or any stolen items replaced.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57In October 2014, Lloyds Banking Group received a call from
0:21:57 > 0:21:59a customer called Paul Monday,
0:21:59 > 0:22:04who'd taken out contents insurance with them back in 2009.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Paul was calling to let them know about a burglary at his property.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22David Berry, the technical fraud manager
0:22:22 > 0:22:25at Lloyds Banking Group was involved with the case.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28When we first had the claim presented to us
0:22:28 > 0:22:30everything looked perfectly in order,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33everything appeared to be genuinely stated, so to all intents
0:22:33 > 0:22:36and purposes, nothing at all looked wrong with the claim.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08So, basically, the sort of things you'd expect to find
0:23:08 > 0:23:10in a garden shed.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14However, there was one unusual item on the list of what was taken.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27Fair enough, not an everyday piece of sports equipment,
0:23:27 > 0:23:30but Paul Monday was claiming he had a monoski
0:23:30 > 0:23:32nicked from the back of his shed.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54Paul Monday was a happy customer.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57All his stolen tools would be covered
0:23:57 > 0:23:59and replaced with brand-new ones.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02However a few weeks later the team informed him
0:24:02 > 0:24:05that his monoski was not covered,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08as it needed a specialist sporting equipment policy
0:24:08 > 0:24:11and it was then that the tide started to turn.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15Monday suddenly seemed to remember a further item that had been
0:24:15 > 0:24:17stolen from his shed - a drill.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20When we explained that we couldn't cover the monoski,
0:24:20 > 0:24:23the customer asked us to consider the claim for the drill
0:24:23 > 0:24:26and explained, when we asked him why he hadn't told us
0:24:26 > 0:24:29about the drill previously, that he believed he'd already reached
0:24:29 > 0:24:31the limit of cover when actually he hadn't.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35It seemed plausible enough so the team asked Monday whether
0:24:35 > 0:24:38he had anything to prove his ownership of the drill
0:24:38 > 0:24:40and he responded by supplying a photo.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43But suspicions had been roused
0:24:43 > 0:24:48and the team bored down into the detail of the image of the drill.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52EXIF data or property data held on digital images
0:24:52 > 0:24:54is very simple to access.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58You click on the properties of the digital image and it will
0:24:58 > 0:25:02provide you with information such as the date on which the photo
0:25:02 > 0:25:06was taken, it will provide you with a time to the actual second,
0:25:06 > 0:25:08some of them will actually even provide you with the GPS
0:25:08 > 0:25:11location of where the photo was taken, as well.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16What they found out from analysing Paul Monday's drill photo
0:25:16 > 0:25:18opened up a massive hole in his story.
0:25:21 > 0:25:22It was absolutely key.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26It told us that the photograph had been presented and taken
0:25:26 > 0:25:29after the item was said to have been stolen.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33So, miraculously, Monday had managed to snap a shot of his drill
0:25:33 > 0:25:35after the burglary.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38The team confronted him with this evidence.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42The customer wasn't immediately able to explain that but after
0:25:42 > 0:25:45some further discussion he did actually admit to us that he'd
0:25:45 > 0:25:50taken a standard image from the internet, he'd presented it to us
0:25:50 > 0:25:54as the item that he had claimed for and he hadn't actually
0:25:54 > 0:25:56considered what the consequences of that might have been.
0:25:56 > 0:26:01And the consequences were really bad for this particular scammer.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04We explained to the customer that he had committed fraud in terms
0:26:04 > 0:26:09of the conditions of the policy and that the repercussion of that
0:26:09 > 0:26:12would mean that not only would we have to cancel the policy
0:26:12 > 0:26:16but we'd also have to seek the money back for sums we had paid
0:26:16 > 0:26:19for the replacement of the items that he'd already received.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Paul Monday was less than impressed.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26The customer complained to the Financial Ombudsman Service
0:26:26 > 0:26:29and, in fact, the Ombudsman, on looking at all of the facts
0:26:29 > 0:26:31presented by both the customer
0:26:31 > 0:26:34and ourselves in terms of how we reach that decision, concluded that
0:26:34 > 0:26:38we had actually made a fair decision and that the claim shouldn't stand.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42Monday's objections had been overruled and he was instructed
0:26:42 > 0:26:45to play nearly £1,500 back to Lloyds -
0:26:45 > 0:26:48the value of all the new tools he had received.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51But it didn't end there.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54The case was referred to the City of London police's
0:26:54 > 0:26:57Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department
0:26:57 > 0:27:00and Monday found himself in front of a magistrates' court.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03He pleaded guilty in court to charges
0:27:03 > 0:27:07of fraud by false representation and as a result of that
0:27:07 > 0:27:10he received a 12-month conditional discharge.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14It may have been that Paul Monday's shed had genuinely been broken into,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17but by lying to his insurers and providing false evidence
0:27:17 > 0:27:21he's ended up owing them nearly £1,500
0:27:21 > 0:27:24and has a permanent criminal record to boot.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37Nobody likes paying more than we have to for everyday services,
0:27:37 > 0:27:41but this is exactly what's happening with insurance fraud.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43Scammers and conmen are swindling their way to pay-outs
0:27:43 > 0:27:45that they don't deserve.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48The knock-on effect is that the extra costs result in ever
0:27:48 > 0:27:50increasing premiums.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52We're getting hit in the pocket and it's not just organised
0:27:52 > 0:27:54criminal gangs to blame.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57Exaggerated household claims also take their toll.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59But instead of getting away with it,
0:27:59 > 0:28:03more and more of these fraudsters are being Claimed And Shamed.