FBI New Orleans Division

Economic fraud directed at consumers and small businesses is on the rise and comes in all shapes and sizes. These frauds include investment scams in which the perpetrators capitalize on the financial needs of the individuals, naivete, optimism, and wide-spread fantasies of "hitting the jackpot." Fraud promoters masquerade as national sales firms using telemarketing, direct mail, television, and the Internet to reach individuals. Another important crime problem involves insurance fraud, particularly in the area of personal injury, which involves fraud schemes involving staged accidents and further fraud committed by doctors and attorneys. In Orleans Parish alone, a conservative estimate of loss to automobile fraud is in the range of $20 million per year; but many believe that the loss is probably between $50 million to $75 million. While some areas of the country are overwhelmed with staged accidents which involve medical treatment and questions of liability, the New Orleans fraud problem infiltrates insurance fraud on all sides. Individuals involved in this fraud include the medical and legal profession, the peripheral services, such as tow trucks, rental cars, and body shops, as well as law enforcement personnel. Finally, computer fraud such as theft of information, intrusion, and illegal copying of software have also become priorities of the New Orleans Economic Crimes program.

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Last modified: June 6, 2005