Police in California bust car-crash scam ring

A string of suspicious accident reports linked to several car repair shops in Santa Clara,
California, helped lead the Silicon Valley Auto Insurance Task Force to a car-crash scam ring
involving 22 suspects, the San Francisco Gate reported Monday.

The fraud ring, all charged Monday, duped insurers into paying out $235,948 in claims for fake car accidents staged from 2013 to 2015, the paper reported.

“The cost of fraud affects every one of us because the cost is passed down to consumers
through higher insurance premiums,” said Charlotte Chang, a deputy district attorney, in a
statement. “That’s why we feel these are very important cases. We’re all paying for the cost of
fraud.”