A group of car insurance scammers in the Wirral were rumbled after fraud investigators found the two drivers involved in an alleged accident were linked via Facebook friends.
Daniel Locke had claimed to be the victim after his Vauxhall Astra was hit by James Stuart in a hire car. The Astra driver claimed against the other driver for minor injuries and put in a claim with his insurance company AXA.
Following an investigation by the insurance company, they discovered that a number of similar accidents had take place in the same area where the crash had been reported, always involving hire cars and young people. The cars which were hit were usually packed full with passengers so as to enable them to make the maximum number of claims for damages.
In total AXA found that 8 similar car accidents had occurred in this area of the Wirral, and further probing uncovered that the two men involved in the accident had 38 mutual friends on Facebook, which the insurance company says proves that the pair move in the same social circle, although they were not friends with each other on the popular social network.
A number of other individuals who feature in the 8 scams which were uncovered had proven links either through shared addresses or relationships.
Mr Locke’s case for compensation was thrown out following the judge ruling at London’s High Court this week.
