What is the penalty for using a car for insurance?

Characteristics of a fake accident

Victims of intentional road accidents most often become drivers traveling alone, distracted by a conversation on a mobile phone, without driving experience (with a “U” sign on their car) or taxi drivers. Fraudsters create certain situations in which the insurance company is obliged to pay compensation. Some citizens try to resolve the issue “amicably” on the spot and give large sums of money to the criminals as damages. The main types of fraud are:

• Taking out insurance for a car retroactively, when it has already been involved in an accident. This is done to shift responsibility from the driver to the company.
• False accidents for insurance with a substitute driver. Often, during an accident, a person who is not included in the policy is driving. In this case, no payment is made, and therefore the scammers in this situation put the person whose details are included in the policy behind the wheel. It is very difficult to prove a violation here.
• Bank or insurance document scam. The employees themselves are usually involved in the setup, falsifying the results of the examination in order to receive higher compensation for minor injuries.

You can protect yourself from fraud associated with road accidents by installing a DVR, calling traffic police officers to the place where questionable actions are taking place, recording everything on a mobile phone camera, and also involving strangers as witnesses.

Punishment for frame-ups

Proving a complete frame-up is a complex and difficult process, since any accident is still considered an accident, and identifying whether there was intent is very problematic.

If the fact of fraud is nevertheless detected, then auto-fraud entails punishment depending on the severity of the offense.

From a legal point of view, the requirement to “resolve” the issue on the spot and transfer funds without contacting the relevant authorities is regarded as two types :

• arbitrariness;
• extortion.

Depending on how the offense is assessed, the punishment will be assigned:

• arbitrariness is punishable by a fine of 8,400 rubles. or arrest for 6 months. ;
• Extortion may be punishable by arrest for up to 4 years in the case of an individual offense. In case of action by a group of persons - from 3 to 7 years with confiscation of property;
• Extortion on an especially large scale, carried out by a group of persons, is punishable by a fine of 42,000 rubles. , as well as imprisonment for a term of 7 to 15 years with confiscation of existing property.

Popular auto setup schemes

For a fake accident, the perpetrators face serious consequences, but this stops few people. Fraudsters often use proven “working” schemes to deceive citizens or insurance companies. The most common of them are:

• Staging an accident. This is a deliberate decision to deteriorate the condition of the car in order to present it as a victim in an accident. In such a situation, it is important to find witnesses who will confirm the absence of a traffic accident. Then the scammers will not receive money from the insurance company.
• Double payments. Often after an accident, the parties agree to resolve the conflict without involving traffic police officers. In such a situation, the culprit gives a certain amount of money on the spot and leaves. After this, the victim calls the traffic police and draws up a report: thus, collecting compensation for the damage caused again.
• Taking out a policy for a damaged car. If an uninsured vehicle is damaged in an accident, many culprits try to hide this fact by concluding an MTPL agreement with the company and collecting compensation from it. For everything to go smoothly, one of the company’s employees must be at the same time as the attackers.
• Fraudulent theft. The fraud lies in the fact that a CASCO agreement is concluded. After this, the transport is disassembled for spare parts or exported abroad. In this case, the owner contacts law enforcement agencies and reports the car theft, after which he formalizes payment of compensation.

Attention! Staging an accident for the insurance company is the most common type of fraudulent activity. In this situation, either one or both parties may know about the illegality. When the criminals are caught, each swindler will suffer the prescribed punishment. In most cases, automatic scams are easily discovered, since many schemes are not fully thought out and do not take into account hundreds of nuances.

ZURABb › Blog › AUTO SUPPORT Schemes

Automatic setup schemes are quite varied, but the meaning is the same.
Fake an accident and squeeze money out of the sucker for repairs. The cars that scammers use for fraud are very diverse, but most often these are cars of expensive, reputable brands. Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Lexus. But despite their presentable and very expensive appearance, as a rule, the cars are already slightly “tired”, repaired after serious accidents or with problematic documents. And the cost of such cars is often equal to the cost of a middle-class family car.

The salary of the substitute depends on the correct choice of the victim. They choose drivers who drive decent, but not very expensive, foreign cars, since the victim must be naive enough to be intimidated and at the same time have enough money to pay. It’s rare to get confused when there are several other people in the cabin besides the driver. There is no need for extra witnesses, especially since it is much easier to intimidate and burden one person.

There are many automatic substitution schemes, let's look at the most popular ones.

“Give way” (with sandpaper)

The scheme is the same as in the first case, only this time they will not hit you on the right side, but will simply throw a bottle or something else so that you hear the sound of the impact. After this, they will begin to press you and signal you to stop, then while one of the passengers of the lifting machine distracts you, the other will make “scuffs” with sandpaper in the right places. Then everything is the same according to the scenario.

“Exposing the butt” (reverse)

You are slowly driving along the city streets... you see a pedestrian crossing ahead... you slow down a little... there are a couple of people standing on the side of the road who are not going to cross, as soon as you pass in front of them they start walking and lightly hit you on the side of the road with a special bag. You stop, or some kind of Mercedes catches up with you, athletes come out from there, and begin to rub in you that you just ran over the leg of a tough fighter, who will soon have a very important performance, with a very large fee, almost with Emelianenko himself. And due to injury, he will now not be able to participate. Then, as usual, there is a scam for money.

Here are perhaps the most popular topics of auto-substitutions that we have considered. Now I think it’s time to talk about how to avoid becoming a victim of scammers, and how to get out of such a situation if you do become one.

- Be sure to buy a DVR! It's inexpensive, but it's a must-have item. A DVR can save you not only in the event of a car accident, but also in any other troubles on the road.

— Always be very careful on the highway, look in your mirrors more often. Do not give way to a driver who is approaching and blinking from behind. It doesn’t matter if it was a setup or just a local Schumacher, drive as you drove, you don’t need to give in to anyone.

- If you are hit, stop immediately, and under no circumstances pull over to the side of the road. Do not give in to the persuasion of scammers who will ask you to look at the damage in a calm environment. Even if you cause a big traffic jam, stay still. Eat - that’s it, consider that you have fled the scene of the accident, in which case the insurance company will no longer help you.

- Call the cops right away. Don’t believe it if they tell you that they have already called. Also call your friends and outline the situation. It is advisable for the scammers to hear this.

— An interesting point, if you tell the framers that I have everything recorded on the video recorder, I will call the police. They will definitely answer you that they no longer have any complaints against you, you can go :) Stand still, you definitely have complaints against them.

— Don’t get out of the car, communicate only through a slightly open window.

- Don’t think that a small scratch is nothing, they will give you the full price. They may also offer to go to a service center to assess the damage, of course, in theirs. There the amount may increase several times more.

“And most importantly, remember that a legal solution to the problem is extremely unprofitable for the framers. In this case, they will not receive any money and will be exposed.

These were tips for intelligently solving a problem. If you have good friends, then this issue can be solved differently :) In any case, it is better not to get into such situations at all. I wish you good luck on the roads.

Source

Staging an accident with the consent of the participants

One of the ways to deceive on the road is to fake an accident by agreement of the parties. The idea is to get double the benefits. It is formed due to the fact that the victim offers the culprit (often in a drunken state) to settle everything at once. If he agrees and pays compensation on the spot, the fraudster waits until he leaves and calls the traffic police. The protocol records the fact of leaving the scene of the accident. In addition to the amount already received, the victim makes a payment to the insurance company.

Punishment for a fictitious accident

An intentional road accident is revealed very quickly, and all participants will face punishment as determined by law. Some people think that this is only administrative responsibility, but such actions are often classified as criminal. What is the penalty for falsifying an incident on the road:

• Penalties up to 120 thousand rubles.
• Performing mandatory work up to 300 hours.
• Compensation for expenses and damages incurred in the amount of the annual income of the person responsible for the accident.
• Forced labor for a year.
• Correctional labor for up to 1.5 years.
• Imprisonment for a period of 6 months.

Such consequences are provided for by the provisions of the Code of Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code. Based on the situation, by court decision, they can be deprived of liberty for a longer period. Members of a criminal gang, for example, receive up to 10 years in prison if they systematically set up road accidents over several years.

Punishment for a fake accident

Faking an accident in order to obtain money from an insurance company is classified as fraud. Moreover, for a crime in this area there is a separate article 159.5 of the Criminal Code, part 1 of which reads:

It applies to those who acted alone. For a company of scammers, there is Part 2 of Article 159.5 of the Criminal Code. In accordance with it, each of a group of criminals can receive a fine of up to 300,000 rubles. or compulsory work for a period of 480 hours to 5 years with imprisonment for 2 years. Instead of these measures, the court may impose a prison term of up to 5 years.

What kind of punishment the criminal will receive depends not only on the number of participants in the scam, but also on the degree of guilt of each. If a police officer cheated, he will pay the money to the state and most likely go to prison in accordance with Section 3 of the same article of the Criminal Code. The fine for him will be 80,000 - 500,000 rubles, and imprisonment threatens for up to 2 - 6 years. These measures can be replaced by forced labor for a period of up to 5 years with the minimum possible payment.

To determine the penalty, the amount of damage caused to the victim is also important. If it is large, Part 4 of Article 159.5 applies:

If a motorist, and not an insurance company, was deceived, Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation will be applied to the fraudster. It involves the same large fines and imprisonment for similar periods.

Any motorist can become a victim of auto scammers. To avoid this on the road, it is important to look not only ahead, but also to control those driving on the side, and use rear-view mirrors. If an accident occurs, and the second participant behaves suspiciously, you need to record the conversation with him, and be sure to call the traffic police from your phone.

Drivers should also not try to deceive insurers in order to repair their car at no expense. Companies have specialists who can uncover the scam.

How to avoid auto fraud

Road accidents are created deliberately in order to make money. The situations are staged and are most often intended for drivers who violate traffic rules and do not want to call the traffic police. Therefore, it is extremely important to always comply with established regulations. Then, if there is a suspicion of unlawful actions, you can notify law enforcement agencies without fear.

Advice! Another effective way to protect yourself from scammers is to purchase and install a high-quality DVR.

When certain actions on the road are performed intentionally, they are necessarily recorded by this device. It will be much easier to prove you are right later. In case of inappropriate behavior of the other party, the best solution is to lock yourself in the car and wait for the police to arrive.

How to prove you're right if you've been framed

After an accident, the driver, suspecting a staged situation, must immediately call the traffic police, even if everything is arranged in such a way that he looks like the culprit. Before their arrival, it is necessary to record all the circumstances on a mobile phone camera, clarify the testimony and personal data of witnesses. It is strictly forbidden to move vehicles or change the position of objects related to the accident. If the other party does this, then such actions must be recorded on video.

It is also worth informing the insurance company about the incident, calling trusted persons and clarifying all the details of the second party to the accident. Involve third-party people as witnesses to what is happening, it is advisable that they be eyewitnesses. Only if you follow all the recommendations will it be much easier to prove your innocence.

Fraudulent accidents are not uncommon in our country, so every driver needs to know the basic schemes of scammers and not agree to resolve controversial situations on the spot without the involvement of traffic police officers. Otherwise, there is a risk of falling into the hands of scammers or unwittingly becoming their accomplice.

Types of auto stands

In order to understand what kind of criminal attacks on finances or property a driver should beware of, it is necessary to determine what types of auto scams exist today.

Some of the most popular types of such crimes are:

• frauds committed to obtain compensation from insurance companies. As a rule, expensive cars are used for such crimes, and when drawing up a protocol, increased damage is indicated (today they are used less frequently, since receiving a material payment is now possible only during the trial, and direct payments to victims have been replaced by repair work);
• setups using pedestrians (they are used to obtain direct compensation for harm on the spot and are most often carried out at uncontrolled pedestrian crossings, where there are no surveillance cameras of the “Safe City” systems and similar ones to record violations of traffic rules);
• setups with the initiation of traffic violations by the victim of fraudulent actions (this can be forced to emergency braking, changing lanes or suddenly changing lanes in order to avoid a collision with another car, in which damage is caused to the scammers’ car, which is either in the “blind” zone of the victim’s car, or in the next lane, but the person driving too close has other possible options);
• simulating impacts of one vehicle on another (it proves to the driver that he committed a traffic accident, which in fact did not happen, since the scammers staged it).

The victims of the listed car frauds are, as a rule, either inexperienced drivers or those who behave quite distractedly on the road, for example, talking on a mobile phone.

In addition, to select victims, car fraudsters also have a criterion for the cost of the car - middle class, classified as budget foreign cars or classified at a cost slightly higher than budget ones. Owners of domestic used cars become victims of car scammers much less often.