No one wants to get into an accident, except for Framers who, unlike ordinary drivers, are eager to provoke an accident. They all have the same purpose: to scare the victim, to press upon him firmly and to get the compensation for damage on the spot, without police investigation or involvement of insurance companies and courts. However, the accident is not the only scenario: sometimes cheaters use “no-contact” methods of deception, and they are very nice. Mio Technology experts collected several scenarios of auto-fraud, popular among urban crooks.
Headlight, bumper and laptop
Recently, a new way to increase the amount of damage has been gaining popularity among fraudsters: they claim that the accident damaged not only the car, but also the valuable items carried in it. It can be an expensive laptop, a quadrocopter, a porcelain vase of the Ming dynasty or a professional camera, and in the glove compartment of the cheater will certainly be the documents, receipts and certificates proving the value of the damaged property. Criminals will expertly tell the victim that MTPL does not cover the amount of damage and will declare their desire to get compensation through the court, and then suddenly make concessions and offer to peacefully part ways after paying half of the amount. Of course you should not agree to that, because all the “valuables” were damaged smashed in advance and the expertise will most likely be able to prove it. If you insist in court, the criminals quickly give up their property claims, and their car repairs will be covered by MTPL. And the victim’s guilt should also be proven first – the presence of video recorder in the car may cast doubt on this fact as well.
We’ll fix it now
Drivers are used to the fact that road cheaters are rude people, but the sincere desire to help is not associated with a frame-up. Nevertheless, there is also this scenario of frame-up. It is most often used against women, since a successful implementation requires a victim who is not familiar with the structure of the car.
What happens is that the scammers actively gesture from the car and ask the victim to stop, claiming to see smoke or some other malfunction. While the girl gets out of the car and opens the hood, the criminals pour the used oil under the car and start assuring her that she should not go further. Luckily, there’s a car service nearby! Cheaters will be very provocative – they will immediately offer their assistance, get a rope, and gladly tow the victim to their accomplices. They in their turn will quickly “diagnose” the defect, “fix” the car and send the bill. As a result everyone will leave satisfied with each other and the victim will not even suspect that the service “repaired” a perfectly serviceable car.
Minus the bag
parking lots at large shopping malls are a favorite place for car thieves: they are rather crowded and not very visible – perfect conditions for a crime. For example, for a “no-contact” frame-up with empty aluminum cans, which are tied to the bumper or the exhaust pipe of the chosen car. The victim, leaving the parking lot, hears a strange metallic noise, stops and gets out of the car to find out what is wrong, and meanwhile the criminals steal the bags, phones and other valuables from the car.
Another scenario: the victim is caught up by the offenders at the exit of the parking lot, forced to stop and claim that the driver scratched their car when leaving his parking space. A cursory examination confirms this version: there is an impressive scratch on the car door, and the victim has a characteristic scratch with traces of paint on the bumper. Criminals increase pressure by claiming that the “guilty party” is in danger of losing his license for leaving the scene of an accident and offering to “resolve the issue” on the spot without calling the cops. What is left out of the picture is the sandpaper the perpetrators used to fake damage by going over the bumper of a parked car while the owner went shopping.
Fortunately, the driver can always find out who was fidgeting around his car in the parking lot – there is a special parking mode in DVRs for this purpose. It is triggered by a bump or motion sensor, which means it is sure to catch the perpetrator in the frame as he goes around and inspects the victim’s car. It is better to make a habit – to review the “parking” recordings before leaving, and if suspicious individuals appear on the video – do not leave the parking lot, but carefully check the car for scuffs, scratches and other oddities.
DVR helps in other cases as well, for example, in the case of a classical and well-known set-up, when the car of criminals at traffic lights or in a traffic jam simply reverses and crashes into the car of the victim. If there are no witnesses in the car and criminals will certainly choose a single driver , then without a recorder you can not prove anything: the rule “who is behind is guilty” will work, and even the police will not believe the victim, blaming her for not keeping a distance. And if there is a camera in the cabin of a car, the scammers in most cases, prefer not to contact. If the faked traffic accident still happened and the criminals behave aggressively, the phrase “let’s see the video from the DVR” can magically change the tone of the conversation.
