Fraudsters faking automotive crashes with ‘shallowfake’ pics may grow to be subsequent massive rip-off

Fraudsters are faking car crashes with “shallowfake” manipulated snaps to cash in on insurance, according to industry experts.

The UK’s “latest big scam” sees scammers manipulate photos and documents to make fake claims. Some are raking in thousands of pounds using doctored snaps, causing the cost of insurance to rise.

Insurer LV said incidents of distorted images and videos skyrocketed by 300% in 2023. They added the scheme had “all the signs of becoming the latest big scam to hit the insurance industry.”

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Matt Crabtree, LV’s head of financial crime intelligence, told The Times con artists are using modern tech for “their own illegal purposes and to target innocent members of the public to make a profit.” Some are even Photoshopping registration plates onto total loss vehicles before making claims, according to Zurich’s head of fraud, Scott Clayton.

He added Zurich was seeing “more and more” so-called shallowfake claims. “This is becoming one of the most emerging threats from a counter-fraud point of view,” Mr Clayton continued.

“There’s software that is easy for fraudsters to access which can manipulate images. For example, we have seen devices that if you were to draw a picture of a building, it could provide that building with impact damage or a broken window.”

In one case, a picture of a tradesman’s van was taken from his company’s social media page. The snap was edited to appear as though it had cracks on the front bumper, with fraudsters alleging the fake damage was the result of an accident.

But it’s not all bad news – insurers are now using tech to fight back against the phenomenon. Last week Allianz said it had prevented 29% more fraud as it announced its new partnership with voice analytics tool Clearspeed. It is hoped the collaboration will help to catch out more fraudsters and prevent them from getting their payout.

ABI director of general insurance policy Mervyn Skeet said: “We understand that car insurance costs are putting pressure on household finances. These figures show how competitive the motor market is, with insurers absorbing significant cost rises but keeping prices relatively stable.

“Even though these figures demonstrate a slowdown in price increases, we won’t be taking our foot off the gas when it comes to our work on tackling the cost of cover.”

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