A man claiming a £22,000 pay-out over fake back injuries was caught out after he posted photos of himself hanging upside down from a zipwire on holiday in Mexico.
Ferenc Kirinovits, 45, said he suffered whiplash injuries and prolapsed disc when a car drove into the back of him in August 2016.
He claimed £22,000 compensation for the injuries which he said required surgery in 2019.
But a judge found there was no way to link the whiplash and prolapsed disc were connected to the car accident.
Social media photos taken just six months before the surgery show Kirinovits, a coach driver, hanging upside down on a rope, riding a quad bike and jumping off a cliff into a river while on holiday with his wife in Mexico.
Kirinovits, from Lakenham, Norfolk, was found to have lied about the extent of his injuries and loss of earnings to the point of "criminal dishonesty".
He was ordered to pay insurance company AXA UK's £12,000 legal bill.
Damian Rourke from Clyde and Co LLP, who investigated the case, said: "Trying to fake injuries over a prolonged period is much more difficult in today’s connected world.
"With so much social media, CCTV and the ability to easily take surveillance footage, our investigators have a rich seam of evidence to disprove fraudulently exaggerated accounts like that made by Mr Kirinovits."
The driver who crashed into Kirinovits' vehicle in August 2016 on the A11 took responsibility for the crash.
However the insurers, AXA UK, became suspicious after Kirinovits reported serious injuries with no pre-existing symptoms.
In a medical examination over a year later in September, 2017, Kirinovits alleged that the whiplash and a prolapsed disc stopped him from working for three months in 2016.
He also alleged it stopped him from starting a new job and could not clean, garden, go to the gym, play football or swim.
A private MRI in Budapest, Hungary, then recommended he had neck surgery in 2019.
Clyde and Co, working on behalf of AXA UK, discovered social media posts painting a very different picture to that of the injured man.
The posts from a Mexico holiday in February, 2019, six months before his neck surgery show him hanging upside down from a rope, ziplining and climbing ropes and ladders.
He was confronted with this evidence in Norwich County Court, Norfolk, on February 6 this year.
His response was that he was told he may not be able to engage in sports after the surgery, so wanted to enjoy them one last time.
District Judge Jacqueline Raggett stated there was no proof that his injuries and surgery were related to the 2016 accident.
Judge Raggett ruled the claim as "fundamentally dishonest" and was ordered to repay AXA UK their legal costs, estimated at £12,000.
Damian Rourke said: "It’s important to realise that, had he been successful, Mr Kirinovits’s crime would not have been victimless.
"Honest motorists around the country would ultimately have paid the cost of his fraud in more expensive car insurance premiums.”
Chris Walsh, Commercial Claims Director, AXA UK, said: “Insurance fraud is a serious crime which has significant consequences for fraudsters.
"It sadly also results in higher insurance premiums for honest customers as insurers are faced with increased costs.
"For this reason, AXA UK is committed to pursuing fraudulent cases to ensure we can protect our customers.
"A finding of fundamental dishonesty in this case shows the importance of investigation and expertise in fighting against fraud.”
