Using a combination of legislative tools and focused law enforcement activity, fraud fighters in various states said they are winning the battle against staged auto-accident rings, despite the fact that many scam artists are adapting by changing tactics–creating ghost accidents on paper, or using real accident victims in their schemes.

"Right now, I think no-fault fraud is not as prevalent in terms of the pure numbers of bad guys involved in it compared to what we saw back in the first half of the decade, but there is still a core subset of bad guys devoted to it, and our efforts to prosecute it are still very much at the forefront," according to Steve Nachman, deputy superintendent for fraud and consumer services at the New York Insurance Department.

Back in the late 1990s, Mr. Nachman recalled, there was a surge in staged accidents, where recruiters for organized fraud rings–called "runners"–solicited phony accident victims and paid them for participating in fake auto accidents.