Context
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has published a webpage related to their findings on customer awareness and understanding of insurance fraud.
Key points to note and next actions
The ABI’s research found that four of five people (81%) who admit to being aware of insurance fraud have never heard of ‘ad spoofing’, a key tactic fraudsters use to trick someone who has been in a road traffic accident into using an unscrupulous website, when they think they’re dealing with their insurer. The ABI carried their research out by showing people the difference between a real and fake insurance advert.
The research also identified that those who have heard of online insurance fraud, knowledge of specific types was very low, with the results showing that:
- 69% were unaware of investment fraud – where a fraudster mirrors the documentation and website of a legitimate provider to trick people into investing in products that do not exist.
- 78% had not heard of data farming – the use of direct marketing or cold calling to encourage otherwise innocent individuals to make false or exaggerated claims.
- 81% were unaware of ‘account takeovers’ – where a scammer will take over a policy or claim to either misdirect a premium refund or claim payment.
- 90% had not heard of ‘ghost broking’ – a term used to cover a range of tactics used by scammers to sell fraudulent insurance policies.
More information on the different types of online insurance fraud can be found on the ABI website.