Crash for cash gangs are starting to spread out and target people living in towns, and sometimes even rural villages, the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) has warned. The scams often involve fraudsters slamming on their brakes at busy junctions and roundabouts so drivers behind them cannot stop in time.
Sometimes this is done with an accomplice in a second vehicle driving erratically in front, so they can divert the victim's suspicions by saying the driver in front, who fled the scene, caused the accident. They are also known to encourage other drivers to pull out of side roads or wait until they creep forward for a better view, only to crash into the side of them.
The IFB identified Frome in Somerset; Worksop in Nottinghamshire; Cirencester in Gloucestershire; Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire; Nottingham in Nottinghamshire; Shrewsbury in Shropshire; Warrington in Cheshire; Ashby and Leicester in Leicestershire and Derby in Derbyshire as being among the areas targeted by gangs in the past 12 months. There is also evidence to suggest gangs are targeting rural villages with the dangerous tactic, it said.
