Using Facebook to Catch Fraud

We are all familiar with Facebook. Of course, the insurance companies are as well. Many times, insurance companies will look into Facebook posts to help determine whether a claim is legitimate or not.

One such case is a lawsuit filed by Daniel Lamb, claiming he had suffered injuries when his car was hit by John Smith. Smith’s insurer did some research online, checking each man’s Facebook page. The two men had around three dozen friends in common on Facebook. This led to other evidence that showed how the “accident” was an insurance fraud scheme that both men were involved in. Lamb’s case was thrown out of court, thanks to Facebook.

One thing that is consistent with Facebook is that people love to post photos. These are typically visible to the public. Every investigator knows how a photo can be worth a million words. There have been cases where photos were displayed of a man riding an ATV he had claimed was stolen. Another had a woman who had claimed disability water skiing. Another lady claimed she lost her cat in a house fire. Investigators found recent photos of that cat that was supposedly killed on the woman’s Facebook page weeks later. Thanks to Facebook, these and others were all caught in their scam.

Another way to catch scammers on Facebook is by reading their “updates” they post. These updates often include bragging about stuff or sharing their latest vacation or activity that are enjoying. For example, Tom Fennigen posted an update from his Smartphone that he was enjoying a beautiful day on the golf course two weeks after he claimed his gold clubs were stolen. Hmm…bad post for him.

Lucky for investigators, people typically assume that only their friends and family will see their post, not someone investigating a claim they made. But, hey, let them keep posting.  It makes our job so much easier!