A teacher and a funeral parlor owner in New Zealand were busted for operating an insurance scam in which they stole people's identities, took out funeral policies in their names, and claimed the money from insurance companies. After running this scam for years, they were ultimately caught by a police officer whose identity they had stolen.

A massage clinic in Miami was busted for insurance fraud after an undercover sting operation uncovered a massage therapist, a physician's assistant, and 14 patients who were all involved in an ongoing scheme to file fraudulent insurance claims. All of the parties involved were arrested and charged with fraud and grand theft. 

In an effort to keep the World's Dumbest Criminals series alive and well, an Arizona man's attempt at insurance fraud was thwarted when police used his vehicle's LoJack system to locate the car.

Insurance broker Frank Gartland pleaded guilty to money laundering and theft for cheating the Perth Amboy school district in New Jersey out of nearly $2.6 million. He partnered with another broker in 2003 to steal millions from the school district via a dubious "worker wellness' program but got caught in 2010.

When you’re too injured to work it would stand to reason you’re probably not ready to jump in a ring and square off in hand to hand combat. However, for one injured LA firefighter, the period between Dec. 2^nd, 2008 and May 20^th, 2011 is now the subject of contention following the discovery that he may have been participating in MMA fights while collecting workers’ comp.

Another day, another case of insurance fraud. This one comes out of Arizona, where a couple milked a whopping $1 million from Cigna Health and Life Insurance, one of the biggest health care companies in the state. The dollar amount is impressive; the fact that they clearly didn't get away with their crime is not. 

Yesterday I wrote about how New Jersey's high instances of car insurance fraud are resulting in higher premium costs. It looks like Virginia has a similar problem--last year arrests for insurance fraud were up 8% over 2010. It may be a bit early to tell whether the increase will lead to insurance rate changes, but if the trend continues, Virginia drivers may experience an unpleasant rise in premiums like New Jersey drivers have. 

The New Jersey Department of Banking as well as various insurance companies have stated that car accident fraud has forced premiums to increase in price by 25% over the last few years. New Jersey Newsroom reports that "for every $1 the insurance companies collect under the Personal Injury Protection clause in car insurance, $1.25 is paid out," forcing insurance companies to increase their premium costs.