Social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter have quicklybecome the claims investigator's friend, as they can provide vital cluesin pinpointing and unraveling insurance fraud rings andisolated offenses.

One case is point is the pending trial of four Sacramento,Calif. women for their suspected involvement in a staged autoaccident scheme. Though the women denied knowing one another priorto a collision in December of 2011, detectives learned over thecourse of the ensuing claims investigation that the foursome werein fact acquainted at least in the digital sense, as “friends” onFacebook.

According to the California Department of Insurance (CDI), SusanLee, 24; Angelique Jones, 20; Angela Medeiros, 40; and KrystelmareeMarquez, 23, allegedly conspired to defraud auto insurers out ofmore than $37,000.

Dave Althausen, CDI spokesman, reports that Marquez rented aU-Haul truck on Dec. 11, 2011 and opted for the extra insuranceprotection. While driving the truck the next day, she was involvedin a collision with a Toyota Yaris driven by Medeiros, with Lee andJones riding as passengers. All four women claimed crash-relatedinjuries for which they sought attention.

Although Medeiros then told insurance company representativesthat she did not know the others, detectives discovered priorties, namely Facebookfriendships.

Authorities subsequently arrested Medeiros, Lee, and Jones onsuspicion of three fraud charges, including providing falsestatements in support of an insurance claim and participating in avehicle collision for the purpose of submitting a false insuranceclaim. Meanwhile Marquez, who faces the same allegations, hasevaded arrest, at least for now.

If convicted of all the charges, each suspectedfraudster could face two to five years in state prison and/ora $50,000 fine.

Stay tuned for updates as this case unfolds.