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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
A note to would-be insurance fraudsters: If you are compelled to brag about a recent scam, it would probably be best to make sure the insurance company isn’t listening at the time.
A Leeds, England, man recently became the first individual convicted of insurance fraud as a result of an investigation by the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, which was added to the London Police force in January, according to a BBC report.
The man, John Machin, called his insurer this year to file a claim for an auto accident that never happened, hoping to secure a payout of around $391,000. However, according to audio clips provided to the BBC by London police, Mr. Machin didn’t hang up the phone after finishing his call with the claims agent—and apparently didn’t realize he was still being recorded when he started bragging about how easy it had been to file the false claim.
“I can make you a very rich man,” Mr. Machin can be heard saying on the recording to a friend. “This is it!”
Mr. Machin received a suspended sentence of one year in prison and 200 hours of community service, according to the BBC.