More states urgently need to pass targeted laws to uncover and disband widespread staged-accident rings, the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud recently told the National Conference of Insurance Legislators.

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"These swindlers have a strong incentive to profit at the expense of insurers and their policyholders," said Howard Goldblatt, the coalition's director of government affairs. "More states must show they have a stronger will to pass tough laws that get cons off the streets and in jail."

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Staged-accident rings continue spreading in many states around the country, according to CAIF statistics. Few states, however, have laws designed to pressure accident rings' runners. Laws should make it a crime for runners to recruit fake car passengers, and for a ring's leaders to hire runners, Goldblatt said. Stronger laws also would make it easier for prosecutors to convict members of staged-accident rings.

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