How a viral insurance scam is driving dashcam awareness

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A video of an alleged insurance fraud in New York City is going viral, leading some in the Port City to wonder what to do if they find themselves in a similar situation.

The video of attempted insurance fraud was first posted on TikTok, which shows a silver car cutting off cutting off another driver and brake-checking them,  before suddenly backing into the victim’s car.

The entire incident, which happened earlier this month, was captured on the victim’s dash camera.

Once the passengers in the car attempting the fraud noticed the dash camera, they quickly got back in their car and drove away.
Mark Houdeshell works for Soundtronics in Wilmington.

He said having a dash camera can protect you if you’re a victim of a similar type of scam.

“Well I just thought its a good idea to probably have a dash cam to protect yourself and just keep people honest out there,” Houdeshell said. “It really helps the law enforcement and anybody that’s in the accident, you know, claims departments have like real true evidence of whats going on out there in the streets.”

Chase Valade has seen the video and said it has made him consider getting a dash camera for his own safety.

“Well my first reaction was I wasn’t too surprised to be honest with you,” Valade said. “I feel like stuff around there happens like that a lot. I think that would help for, to stop things like that happening in the future for sure. But for my safety and other people’s safety who are with me in the car as well.”

Greg Willett is a lieutenant with the Wilmington Police Department and says if you don’t have a dashcam and you think you’re the victim of a similar scam, there are other ways for police to get video evidence.

“One of the things, one of the first things an officer’s going to do when they have a chance is see if there are any cameras that are available to our sting center that monitor traffic so they can witness it, not witness it but watch it for themselves if you will,” Willett said.

Willett added that police can charge scammers with motor vehicle violations if they are caught, but that insurance fraud would be investigated by the state.

If you are thinking of getting a dash camera, there are forward-facing cameras and you can also get dash cameras that look out the rear window and even look at the driver for added protection.