Recently, the Russian roads have been swept by a new wave of "avtopodstav" - imitation of road accidents with the aim of extorting money from car owners. Fraudsters have managed to adapt to the current compulsory insurance system. Now criminals from the main road scratch the victim's car with sandpaper, substitute their feet under the rushing cars, and even throw children under the bumpers of parking cars. At the same time, insurers, if they do not help criminals, then at least do not interfere with them.
The capital's car enthusiast Anatoly Kuzmin was driving his VAZ-2110 along Universitetsky Prospekt in the south-west of Moscow. He needed to get to Leninsky Prospekt, so shortly before the turn, he rebuilt into the right lane and slowly drove along the side of the road. Suddenly, a young man appeared on the right side of his car, talking on a cell phone and looking out for something on the road. The stranger soon went out onto the road and, judging by the raised hand, tried to stop the passing car.
"This bastard crushed my leg"
Anatoly drove by, turned onto Leninsky Prospekt, but literally 200 meters later he was caught up by the prestigious Audi A8 limousine with heavily tinted windows. The driver of the foreign car began to actively blink headlights, honk and tried to attract attention in every way. As a result, Mr. Kuzmin told NI, a foreign car blocked the road and forced him to stop the car. The doors of the Audi swung open, and three handsome-looking young men climbed out and walked towards him. They immediately unleashed a stream of mate and strong expressions on the astonished driver, from which Anatoly understood that he had nearly run over their friend. The same "man with a telephone" was sitting in the cabin of a foreign car, holding his foot.
Pointing to Anatoly, he announced to his friends that "this is the same bastard who ran over my leg and disappeared." The amazed driver of the "ten" tried to justify himself, but the opponents did not even listen to him, they sat him in the salon of their car and began to demand money without any preludes. According to them, they are all famous athletes who went to a responsible performance. Their friend is a "master of the highest class" and could have easily won these competitions, but now, due to injury, he will not be able to do this. "Athletes" stated that the prize fund for the victory was $ 500, which the culprit of the "run over" is obliged to compensate. Anatoly said that he did not have such a sum, to which the strangers offered to go to collect money from relatives. Fortunately, at that moment a police patrol was passing by. Anatoly rushed to the guards and told them everything. The militiamen offered the "wounded" to go to the trauma center, but the latter referred to the absence of a medical policy and refused. In general, when the policemen appeared, the "sportsmen" became sad, immediately remembered that they were in a hurry, quickly plunged into Audi and left.
Child under the car
Hearing this story, the MUR operatives immediately told "NI" that Anatoly Kuzmin had almost become a victim of the "avtostav", but admitted that they had never encountered such a performance. According to police officers, false rides on people usually take place in a different way. Fraudsters use young accomplices for these performances. Children are brought to the parking lot in front of a large supermarket, where they choose a lonely young owner of an expensive foreign car. As soon as the lady begins to maneuver in reverse, one of the guys sneaks up to her car, hits the rear bumper with a crash and falls under the car. The woman falls into shock from what she saw, and at this moment the father, brother or grandfather of the "crushed" child runs up to her and begins to wail loudly. However, soon the baby opens his eyes and rises with difficulty. At the same time, he moans loudly and holds on to the allegedly injured head. The victim's relative agrees not to publicize the incident and only demands to pay for his treatment.
"Runaway" and "set up the backside"
However, as policemen admit, the lion's share of fraud on the capital's roads is still associated with various ways of staging an accident.
Until recently, in the hit parade of ways to deceive gullible car enthusiasts, the so-called squeeze and set up under the blow of the butt were in the lead. In the first case, the car of a potential victim was caught up by another car, the driver of which honked and asked to clear his way. As soon as the car enthusiast was rearranging to the right, an expensive foreign car would jump out of the “dead zone” invisible into the mirror, which he touched with his car. In the second variant, during the exit to the main road from the secondary road, the driver of the foreign car in front of the road imitated the beginning of the movement and, when the victim was distracted, sharply braked.
These methods were popular until the CTP system was introduced in Russia. Since the insurance companies were not eager to pay damages from the performances of fraudsters, they began to involve experts in the investigation of the causes of the accident, who instantly revealed the fraud. In addition, the security services of insurance companies began to form their own databases on dubious participants in such accidents and their cars.
Accident with sandpaper
Currently, the most popular extortion method on the road is to fake a car collision with ... a piece of sandpaper. As before, in the "risk group" are young owners of relatively fresh, but inexpensive foreign cars or new domestic cars, who are alone in the car. Fraudsters choose a future victim in parking lots in front of supermarkets or directly on the road. In the first case, while the driver is shopping, the crooks apply a visible and deep mark on her body with sandpaper. After that, without showing themselves in any way, they begin to pursue the victim.
An unsuspecting driver drives along the road, sometimes rearranging from row to row, but at the same time does not cut or hurt anyone. Suddenly, his car is caught up by an expensive foreign car with tinted windows without license plates, the driver of which gives signs and demands to stop. If the victim ignores the signals, then he is simply pushed to the side of the road. As soon as the cars stop, the well-dressed driver of a foreign car, in a rather polite manner, begins to explain that a few seconds ago the stopped motorist hit his car. If the fraudsters did not have time to apply the traces of the alleged touch with sandpaper, then at the time of the conversation one of them sneaks up to the victim's car and "rubs" it. After that, the "substitute" brings the interlocutor to the scratch and, pointing at it, explains: here it is, the trace of the collision.
OSAGO will not help
At this moment, the driver remembers that his car is insured under OSAGO. The fraudster is well aware of this, so he himself offers to call the insurance agent. And here the most interesting thing begins: the victim, who applied to the insurance company, is explained there that since the accident happened in another place (recall, there was no collision at all), the insurers will not pay the "victim". The logic is simple: the "culprit" escaped from the scene of the accident, and this is "not an insured event." Sounds convincing, but insurers are cunning. After all, payment under the OSAGO policy is not made only if the culprit fled the scene of the accident intentionally. It turns out that insurers who are well aware of the methods of fraudsters simply leave the victim defenseless against criminals.
After the call, the result of which is known to the fraudster in advance, he offers to solve all the problems "on the spot" and names the amount of damage. If the victim starts to argue, a couple of bullies come out of the foreign car, who often resort to brute physical force. Simply put, they "knock out" money. Often, the car enthusiast has no choice but to pay the extortionists.
"There are no frames"
The position of insurers, who at one time actively lobbied for the adoption of the law on compulsory motor third party liability insurance, looks at least strange. Then, we recall, one of the arguments in favor of the new law was a huge number of "auto-fakes". Insurers convinced the public that the CTP policy would forever save motorists from such problems. And when the epidemic of "setups" again engulfed Russia, insurance companies simply hide their heads in the sand.
“NI” tried to find out what the well-known insurance companies “RESO-Garantia” and “ROSNO” advise their clients in the case of “auto-fit”. However, their reaction was incomprehensible. At RESO-Garantia, the correspondent's call was repeatedly transferred to various departments, and as a result, the company's employees decided that only one of the deputy managers, who was not there, could answer all the questions. And ROSNO listened attentively to the question about auto-substations, promised to find a specialist and call back. We never got the call. And when the correspondent of NI called ROSNO again and asked about the "autos", an employee of the company said in an agitated voice: “What are you? There have been no frames for a long time "...
SIGNS "SUBSTITUTE"
1. You have not done anything illegal, but an expensive foreign car persistently pushes you to the side of the road.
2. There are no license plates on the scammers' car or they are covered with mud. The glasses are heavily tinted.
3. The owner of a foreign car deliberately takes you away from your car, distracting your attention.
4. The fraudster himself invites you to call the insurers (by the way, you don't need to call them at all - in the event of any road accident, the first thing to do is to call the traffic police).
5. In case of disobedience, they immediately begin to threaten you.
IF YOU ARE "SUPPORTED"
"If you are pressed by a suspicious foreign car, try to get to the nearest traffic police post, police or crowded place," MUR spokesman Alexei Bakhromeev told NI. - If you are still pressed, then do not get out of the car, close the locks and communicate with your interlocutor through a small slot in the side window. If your opponent claims that you have committed an accident, immediately close the window, dial "02" and tell the operator everything. No matter how they threaten you and beat you on the glass with fists, in no case come into contact with extortionists, do not try to deal with them yourself and do not pay money. If your opponents nevertheless broke into your car and put a gun to your body, you will have to obey their demands. You can buy a radio tape recorder and a mobile phone again, earn money, but never again your life and health. Try to memorize as many details as possible and recognize both the attackers themselves and the car they used. Call 02 as soon as possible. The operator will immediately send the nearest rapid response squad to you. As for situations with a false trip to a person and subsequent extortion, in addition to reporting to "02", call an ambulance to the scene.
Andrey Pankov, "Novye Izvestia"
Provocative behavior on the road - performing intentional or unintentional actions that may cause an accident.
Deliberate provocation - voluntary creation of a pre-emergency / emergency situation for the sake of a joke, out of revenge or for punishment by one driver of another for a real / imaginary offense or to defraud money on the basis of a traffic violation charge.
Accidental provocation
Unintentional provocation - sudden creation of an unfavorable environment on a separate section of the route due to ignorance of traffic rules or inattention while driving.
Typical cases of provocation of road accidents:
- after turning on the left or right turn signal, maneuvering the car in the opposite direction;
- sharp unreasonable braking immediately after accelerating;
- the exit to the intersection is not in turn at the moment when the movement of the flow of cars along the perpendicular lane is activated.
What to do?
Immediately after someone provoked an accident, find out the severity of the consequences of the collision:
- inspect themselves / passengers both their own and another vehicle (they call, if required, an ambulance and provide the first first aid on the spot);
- call the traffic police inspectors(or the drivers drive away if the "losses" on both sides are extremely insignificant, and the collision occurred in a place far from "civilization"), call the insurer and notify the lawyer.
In case of an accident with the entrance to a house / shop due to avoidance of a collision with another road user, in addition to inspecting the cars and people driving in them, you should make sure that the inhabitants of the building were not injured, that the gas pipeline and the electricity network were not damaged.
After / in parallel identify witnesses who saw how and what was happening, take their contact information, call representatives of the traffic police, an ambulance, notify an insurance agent and a lawyer.
In case of an accident with a pedestrian or another car due to avoidance of a collision with another car, find out how much the health of people has suffered, provide first aid, wait for the arrival of the traffic police and an ambulance.
Parallel looking for several witnesses of the accident(pedestrians, drivers who saw under what circumstances the collision occurred). They take their contact details and ask them to stay in place until the arrival of the traffic cops.
You can not move any of the vehicles involved in an accident (parts flying off from them), if there is no threat to people's lives. Recorded information about the location of vehicles will help in clarifying the circumstances of the accident.
Evidence in court
To correctly understand the circumstances under which someone provoked an accident, and to make a fair decision about who will be responsible, judges are required:
- the layout of cars after the collision, drawn up by a traffic police specialist;
- the conclusion of the expert group on the nature of the damage and the conditions necessary for their formation;
- eyewitness accounts of the accident;
- video recordings of car DVRs and outdoor surveillance cameras (if there were any near the accident site).
How to find a provocateur guilty? Only through the court- other methods are not provided by the law.
Auto-fit
Auto-fit - deliberate provocation of an accident in order to get money from the driver slated for the sacrifice.
How to recognize an auto-footer? External signs of an auto support before an accident:
- sudden braking of the car in front (often after a request to give way and a short-term increase in speed after moving in a row with the car of the intended victim);
- simulation of a sharp transition to one row (undercut) and the appearance of a car on the right out of nowhere (the cutter, as a rule, "dissolves");
- sudden "jumps" of pedestrians under the wheels or on the hood;
- witnesses telling a deliberate lie.
One of the main signs that you have become a forced participant in an auto-fit is the desire of those who "run into" the "guilty" to get money from him at the scene of the accident... For it:
- they propose to resolve issues without representatives of the traffic police, exerting psychological pressure, attracting to the case a passenger flaunting with his physical strength, "accidentally" finding himself in a substituted car;
- "Pressure on the psyche" with prolonged and groundless hysteria;
- threaten the consequences of calling the right people.
How to behave?
Calm down, no matter how hard it takes... In any case, you need to contact the representatives of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate. And on their own, and not thanks to the service from the "comers".
"Accidentally" driving past the PPS actually can be the same "decoy ducks". The main thing is not to give any money.
Car carriers are well aware of the laws, therefore they do not want to fall under the article about beating or "murder" - therefore, it does not go further than verbal threats. You, too, should not give vent to your fists, no matter how much you want.
Better to lock yourself in the car and communicate with scammers through a slightly lowered glass in the window.
The swindlers understand that in the event of a trial they will not see the money from the victim. Therefore, the crooks will try in every possible way to withdraw money in cash and on the spot.
Notify your lawyer, acquaintances, relatives and ask to inform the traffic cops about the incident if there are no traffic police specialists yet.
Where to go for protection?
First to the representatives of the traffic police, then to the court.
If you suspect that traffic cops are in cahoots with criminals, rewrite the numbers of the cars of the arrived specialists, take pictures of the faces of the arrivals and those who "come", call back to the CSS. Save the DVR recordings.
No matter how difficult your relationship with the traffic cops, they will be able to protect you from road swindlers. Of course, if in the fight against the latter you will show prudence and endurance.
Viru County Court found two men guilty of insurance fraud and sentenced one of them to community service, the other to a suspended sentence.
Sergei (23) and Andrei (22) were put on trial on charges that in order to receive reimbursement from an insurance company, they created a misconception about how the insured event occurred.
In order to receive an insurance compensation of 2,100 euros for his Audi car in need of repair, Andrei agreed with Sergei that they would stage a traffic accident: Sergei would crash into Andrei's car, would be the culprit of the accident, Andrei would receive compensation for his car from the insurer. - said the spokesman for the county court.
To implement the plan, Andrei bought a Ford passenger car, which is in very poor condition, on an ad, without reissuing the documents, and on December 9 last year called Sergei so that he would issue this car in his own name and issue compulsory motor third party liability insurance for a month. Sergei did all this, and in the evening of the same day, near Andrei's garage on Rea Street in Kohtla-Järve, he got behind the wheel of a Ford and crashed into Andrei's Audi from the side.
After that, Andrei called the police and reported about the alleged accident, as well as that people were not injured. The police did not arrive at the scene, and Andrei and Sergei parted ways on this. Later Andrey sold "Ford" to a scrap metal buying point.
A few days later, Andrey and Sergey presented the insurer with a notice of compensation in connection with a traffic accident, according to which Sergey, moving in Kohtla-Järve on a secondary road, did not give way to Andrey, who was driving along the main road: at the exit from Mõisa tee to Järve Street he did not notice the approaching Audi from the right and crashed into its side.
The court sentenced Sergei to 11 months suspended imprisonment, replaced by 660 hours of community service. Andrei was sentenced to imprisonment for six months conditionally.
"North Coast"
What contributes to auto insurance fraud? Yes, anything - from the simplicity of the machinations to the corruption of the traffic police. And, it should be noted that, regardless of the incentive, an increasing number of citizens deliberately seek to receive monetary compensation from their insurer. Moreover, the required compensation, in all fairness, is not due to them! All methods of fraud in this area can be roughly divided into 3 main categories:
- Cheating at the stage of claims settlement.
- Fraud with the sale of policies.
- Competent forgery of professional OSAGO scammers.
"Sniffing" a lost document
This type of car fraud is based on the fact that unscrupulous insurance agents distribute forms of "black" policies, which are sold for 500 rubles. Moreover, these forms are absolutely genuine. That is, it seems like you will not get underneath. But, the whole point is that in the insurance company itself they are listed as lost or defective / damaged. Today, the total volume of such policies is approximately 7% of the total number sold.
Unscrupulous insurance agents make a lot of money selling "black" policies
Having got into an accident, and trying to get monetary compensation using such a "black" document, you will only get a turn from the gate. Moreover, all the legal truth will be on the side of the insurance company.
The solution may be to appeal to law enforcement agencies in order to identify negligent agents and bring them to criminal responsibility. If such fraudsters are caught, the minimum that they will face is a fine.
Multiple insurance
Unlike the previous type of fraud, the main actor here is the driver himself. There were known cases when an enterprising car enthusiast was insured by as many as 12 (!) Insurance companies. After that, he competently set up an accident and managed to get compensation from 6 organizations at once.
Damaged car insurance
In this case, the owner of the defective (ie ALREADY having some kind of defect) car insures it under the policy. In the course of paperwork, he either colludes with the insurance agent, or hides from him the very fact of the defect. This is one of the most popular methods of fraud and, according to experts, up to 75-80% of policyholders "sin" with it.
Concealment of the fact of drunkenness
If it turns out that at the time of the accident, the driver was drunk, then according to the law, this case is recognized as not insured and no monetary compensation is paid. But, some dealers know how to quickly "sober up". This is facilitated by 2 facts:
- Corruption of individual traffic police officers who take bribes.
- The presence of a second person inscribed in the policy. Such a person, for example, may be a wife. Calling her, declare that at the time of the accident it was she who drove the vehicle. (In this case, you need to rely, both on help from the traffic police, and on the sobriety of your faithful).
Double payout
In addition to the fact that the insured by all means are trying to deliberately overestimate the damage caused, some of them have adopted the "double payment" method. Its essence is as follows: the victim receives compensation from the culprit and at the same time goes to the traffic police, takes a certificate there, which states that he suffered from an "unknown" person. With this certificate, you can safely go to the insurance company for payment. The result of the fraud:
BARYSH = REMUNERATION FROM ACCIDENT OF ACCIDENT + INSURANCE COMPENSATION
Stands
This is the most popular method of fraud today. Let's suppose that your car was damaged in some road accident. But the case, for one reason or another, was not classified as insurance. No problem. You can arrange another fictitious accident, copying the previous one (say, with a blow to the same place), but within the "insurance" framework.
One businessman "accumulated" 43 accidents in a year.
Self-stealing
Self-theft, like set-ups, is a scourge for insurance companies. It is for them that companies incur the greatest losses. The "hijacked" car provides its owner with decent monetary compensation. At the same time, the machine can be modified or turned into scrap metal. Or maybe it was simply disassembled into parts and sold in this way in parts.
