(NewsNation) — An alleged staged car crash was caught on a driver’s dash cam and the video footage went viral after the owner posted it to social media. Now, police are investigating, saying this is insurance fraud and is happening more often around the country.
That’s exactly what happened last week to a woman in Queens, New York, who caught the whole thing on dash cam video.
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A suspected staged collision in NYC
Ashpia Natasha was driving on a three-lane parkway when she had to slam on the breaks to avoid a crash in a shoulder-less lane. A car swerved into her lane, cut her off, stopped, hit the hazards and then reversed into her Honda Accord.
Soon after in the video, there was a tarp put up to cover up the back window of the other car before several people climbed out and tried to claim they were hurt.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau, a group that tracks insurance claims, called this an attempted insurance fraud scheme playing out in real time. Natasha posted the dashcam video on TikTok, racking up almost 68 million views.
The scammers then tried to file an insurance and medical claim to get money. Natasha was not hurt in the crash but she said they picked the wrong person to mess with.
“I watched the video multiple times and that’s when it hit me that, oh my God, this is probably a setup. I’m pretty furious. I didn’t think that this was a thing,” said Natasha.
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It is; so much so that AAA recommends the following tips:
- Be alert
- Don’t tailgate
- Know if you’re at risk (if driving a luxury or commercial vehicle)
- Consider a dashcam
AAA recommends that if you do find yourself involved in what you suspect is a staged collision:
- Get to safety and get out of traffic, if possible.
- Collect all the information you can such as photos of the other person’s driver’s license, their vehicle identification number, their insurance policy number, their license plate number and their vehicle.
As for Natasha’s alleged perpetrators, after collecting her information, and presumably noticing she had a dashcam, they drove off.
An NYPD spokesperson told NewsNation affiliate PIX11 that police were investigating the incident.
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How common are these scams?
Groups that track data for these staged car accidents say it’s happening more and more — especially in big states known for traffic, like New York and California, which according to the Insurance Information Institute via the New York Post saw a combined 7,000 staged crashes last year between the two states.
Officials from the National Insurance Crime Bureau say a dashcam is the best way to protect yourself, one like Natasha had.
NewsNation affiliate PIX11 contributed to this report.