“The last 12 months was one of our most successful for tackling fraudulent organised motor claims with Aviva,“ commented Dan Prince, Head of Motor Fraud at DACB. “As a long-standing client, we’ve collaborated closely with Aviva’s exceptional organised fraud team, part of its overall national Counter Fraud unit, which has allowed us both to stay ahead of the curve on organised scams and the strategies needed to defeat them.”
The collaboration adopted a renewed focus on quantitative and qualitative analysis of data, coupled with thought leadership in relation to technological advancements which strengthened the understanding of how the modern day organised fraudster operates.
Natalie Randall, Head of Organised Fraud and Financial Crime at DACB, added: “Our emphasis on fraud data analysis has enabled us to identify the new techniques being used by fraudsters when presenting claims and their shift in organised behaviours.
“Whilst they historically raised suspicion by repeating the same Modus Operandi (MO) multiple times, claiming excessive amounts without appropriate proof and deliberately obstructing the claims process, today’s organised fraudsters are now appearing to “co-operate” with the claims process”, she explained. “By doing this, they avoid triggering fraud checklists. Organised fraudsters are mixing their MO, lowering claim values and providing early claims validation evidence without question. Whilst convincing on the surface, the 'validation' evidence is often manipulated, provided out of context or fabricated entirely to support their narrative.”
One investigation handled jointly concerned a series of accidents identified through policy quote data analysis. This suggested links between individuals making claims against Aviva customers; however, on reviewing the claims there was little to link them using traditional methods. The fraud was identified because, on closer inspection, each claim included dashcam footage, disclosed by the claimant, that had been snipped identically on each claim. The snipping meant the footage failed to show the claimant deliberately speeding up to induce the collision. When the teams scrutinised the claimant’s validation evidence they identified 18 claims were linked. After requests for the disclosure of additional footage went unanswered, DACB was able to repudiate all claims, worth £150k in total.
Another investigation focussed on linked short-term policies incepted fraudulently to enable subsequent contrived claims to be pursued. Whilst the more traditional cross-claim links were able to be evidenced, so too was the submission of “shallow-faked” proof of identity and address documents provided by the fraudsters as a means to appear to validate the policies and claims. A robust investigation strategy aimed at disproving the validity of these documents resulted in £450k of fraud savings and the defeat of 28 claims.
DACB has been shining a light on the increased prevalence of “shallow-faked” documents and images, stressing the importance of vigilance when reviewing disclosure documentation and providing insights to its clients, and policing units, through training. A “shallow-fake” can appear in many forms, including identity and proof of claim documentation. It is subtly different from an entirely fabricated document in that a “shallow-fake” is created by manipulating a genuine document or image.
“Securing claims validation evidence is no longer sufficient,” Dan Prince explained. “In this tech-driven environment we have adopted the moto, 'validate the validation' which is now crucial for identifying and investigating today’s organised fraudster.”
Pete Ward, Head of Claims Counter Fraud at Aviva, commented: “Identifying and tackling organised fraud continues to be a key priority for our Counter Fraud team. Working in collaboration with DACB, we secured excellent outcomes in the last year which demonstrates Aviva’s resolve to investigate and defend fraudulent claims. The nature of fraud is changing and working with our key strategic partners allows us react quickly to emerging trends thereby protecting our genuine customers.”
