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Bearly Believable: A Wild Insurance Fraud Scheme Involved Fake Bear
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Bear costume used in elaborate car insurance fraud scheme
Get ready for a wild insurance fraud case. Four people in California thought they could pull a fast one on their insurance companies by claiming a bear attacked their cars. But, as it turns out, it wasn’t a real bear at all – it was a person in a bear costume.
Can you believe it? These folks, who were all from the Los Angeles area, submitted videos of a bear causing damage to their luxury cars. But a closer look revealed that the “bear” was actually a person in a suit.
The insurance company wasn’t fooled and launched an investigation, dubbed “Operation Bear Claw.” They even consulted a wildlife biologist, who confirmed that it was definitely a human in a bear suit.
The cops got a warrant and searched the homes of these crazy people. Guess what they found? A bear costume.
And they did get some money from the scam. The insurance companies had already paid out over $140,000 in claims before they realized it was all a hoax. So they barely got away with it.
The four individuals are now facing charges of insurance fraud and conspiracy.
Source: ABC
