Interview with the National Insurance Crime Bureau

Transcription

1 Interview with the National Insurance Crime Bureau The following is from an interview with the Public Affairs Director, for The National Insurance Crime Bureau, NCIB, The NCIB is a not-for-profit headed by a president/ceo with a Board of Governors overseeing all. The Board is insurance industry professionals nominated and appointed to serve a term. Investigating is a service that NICB provides to our member companies; no extra cost for it. The organization focuses on investigations for a car accident reports that claims phony injuries. When the accident might be a staged or the accident appears to be perpetrated to collect money from phony injuries NICB will investigate it. NICB has some global investigations, doing vehicle theft investigations in foreign countries, but no accident investigations in other countries. When it comes to what the organization can recommend for travelers the NICB believes that being informed about issues is every citizen s responsibility. There are many issues located on their website and can be of value to travelers trying to make improvements in areas they travel to and reside in. NICB s website mentions its vision and mission, The NICB partners with insurers and law enforcement agencies to facilitate the identification, detection and prosecution of insurance criminals. The vision of the NICB is to be the preeminent organization fighting insurance fraud and crime. The mission of the NICB is to lead a united effort of insurers, law enforcement agencies and representatives of the public to prevent and combat insurance fraud and crime though data analytics, investigations, training, legislative advocacy and public awareness. This description does go along with what they have in other areas throughout the website.

2 From the interview with the NICB, the most famous investigation NCIB worked on was the first world trade center bombing attack. NICB identified the vehicle used in the first attack on the World Trade Center in the State of New York, in NICB identified the vehicle from a partial serial number located on an axle. The history of the organization started with auto theft investigations. From 1912 until 1992 it was solely focused on vehicle theft. NICB did not directly investigate other crimes like train robbers or bank robbers. Some of the same suspects we investigate for insurance fraud or vehicle theft are involved in other crimes. Since they were more focused about auto thefts the question of the involvement of crime that may have involved an auto theft was asked about to the NICB. NICB did not take part in investigating the 193s bank robberies. NICB Current Focus Area These days the emphasis is on medical fraud more so than vehicle theft. NICB does a significant amount of vehicle theft investigations but medical fraud now the area with the most focus. The NICB website mentions, Workers compensation and medical fraud criminals are more than just a pain to the insurance industry and the American public they are a menace threatening out nation s health care system. We all pay for their crimes, and that s a bitter pill for us to swallow. If you suspect workers compensation claimant fraud and medical fraud activities, contact the National Insurance Crime Bureau in one of three easy ways: 1. Text Fraud and your tip to TIP411 (847411), 2. Call 1-8-TEL-NICB ( ), and lastly, 3. Submit a form on As for where the conducts its operations, the NICB has a presence in all states; there is no favorite. NICB s investigations count for one year can vary from several hundred to thousands. Some state with the most investigations done by NICB also vary. Typically New York, Florida, Texas, California are among the leading states with the most investigations. NICB participates in investigations that occasionally involve all levels of law enforcement and other government agencies. It depends on the circumstances for each. NICB has not worked with the White House, Senate, Congress, Supreme Court, or the Department of Defense, on an investigation. They also do not investigate color of law violations which include, excessive force, sexual assault, failure to keep from harm, planting of evidence. The reason is it is not the stated area they work on, and they are not law enforcement. Many organizations now have a public affairs office and NICB is open and helpful to the public. Their website mentions some good public information that the public can look up on their website. When it comes to the NICB involvement in the media through Feature Films, and Books, their website is the best source. As for the company involvement in the realm of politics there are no records of former employees later holding political office. Auto Theft Questions A citizen of a state that has a high statistic can sometimes be surprised if there is a negative high rate of something ongoing. Some residents are astonished that California has the highest auto theft rate out of all the other states. The map

3 represents the high auto theft rankings for a few metropolitan statistical areas (MSA), cities in California. Each MSA, has a ranking number next to their name. The Modesto MSA, is at number one. This is based on information from the NICB, for the year of Rank CBSA California 212 Thefts 212 Rate Modesto, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area 4, Fresno, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area 7, Bakersfield, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area 6, Stockton-Lodi, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area 4, San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area 28, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area 11,

4 Vallejo-Fairfield, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area 2, Redding, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area Merced, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area 1, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area 22, Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area 1, Visalia-Porterville, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area 2, San Diego-Carlsbad, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area 13, Madera, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area Salinas, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area 1, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area 52, Yuba City, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area Chico, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area El Centro, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area Hanford-Corcoran, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area Napa, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area 1, Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area Santa Rosa, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area The above is the total auto thefts for 212 in California. NICB mentioned that New Year s day is the holiday with the most car thefts for 212. The national rank for each area is on the farthest right hand column. From List of Some of California's Intersecting s and s Number Modesto Fresno Bakersfield Stockton, Lodi San Fransisco, Oakland, Hayward 1 X X X X X 4 X X X X X 5 X X X X X 1 X X X X X 12 X X X X X

5 15 X X X X X 17 X X X X X 4 X X X X X 41 X X X X X 5 X X X X X 7 X X X X X 8 X X X X X 82 X X X X X 84 X X X X X 85 X X X X X 87 X X X X X 92 X X X X X 97 X X X X X 99 X X X X X 11 X X X X X 19 X X X X X 12 X X X X X 132 X X X X X 14 X X X X X 152 X X X X X 199 X X X X X 25 X X X X X HIghway 237 X X X X X 238 X X X X X 28 X X X X X 38 X X X X X 395 X X X X X 68 X X X X X 88 X X X X X The above table shows some intersecting highways and interstates in California. Most of these are in the Northern half of the state. These s and s are near the 1. Modesto, 2. Fresno, 3. Bakersfield, 4. Stockton, 6. San Francisco, Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The point of the above table is to briefly list each highway in relation to the mentioned locations. This is also to show some areas transportation infrastructure where auto thefts are the highest according to the NICB. These highways also all intersect each other and can be linked together using each other. The linking of these may be the route used. The table is also mentioned because they are the highways and interstate areas that auto thefts were very high compared to the rest of the country. Auto theft is high in California according to NICB because of the size of the population in residence. When talking about the reasons behind vehicle theft in the nation s most populous state, California, one reason linked to the population size is that California has a lot of vehicles. The popular culture of travel in California is to travel by car. Car travel is used more than other available forms of transportation which is also a reason why there are more auto thefts. Whenever you have lots of people you tend to have all kinds, to include those that take part in crimes, and auto theft. When the large population is also driving many more vehicles compared to other states there are more targets for the mentioned auto thieves. Marry that subset to the numerous targets for theft in the state and you have a good reason for why CA always ranks at the top. Plus, a lot of our thefts are driven by a huge

6 drug problem in California and drug problems always lead to more crimes as junkies steal anything they can to support their drug habits. The particular area or reason of blame for auto theft have been thought up in order to know what all occurs and why. Some areas that some would say affect some crimes from occurring could include economic collapse in an area, the funding of terrorism, illegal Immigration, and possible color of law violations where a auto theft is stolen by low enforcement then also later reporting the vehicles theft. NICB responded, auto thefts are certainly not occurring to fund terrorism. That is reported all the time, without good statistical reasoning. Vehicle theft is just a crime that occurs for all the reasons it always has from joy riding to simple transportation to disguising and reselling for profit. The numbers could be doctored about auto theft. Yes, if no theft report is placed into the NCIC system, then the numbers can be skewed. There are several law enforcement agencies whose reporting has caused the FBI not to accept their crime stats. That tells you something. When dealing with numbers, perfection can be elusive. NICB has no clue on a margin for error; that s better asked at the FBI. When a citizen witnesses auto thefts for themselves it can sometimes be a surprise that there is a high rate of unsolved investigations. There are thousands of stolen vehicles that are never recovered but unless it is part of a more significant crime (carjacking where a murder occurred) auto theft doesn t capture much attention anymore. Unsolved crime occurs involving auto theft. In summary the NICB is going to be active in investigations that may end up affecting many that travel. The most obvious ones are for auto theft and it is recommended to take the precautions mentioned on the website at There are some information that may also be helpful regarding accident and fraud prevention, auto salvage fraud, boat theft prevention, disaster fraud, and towing fraud, along with the ways to avoid and protect yourself from being a victim of this. When on a trip and things go wrong it is good to know there are some organizations like NICB that can help.