The uprising of young people in movements such as Occupy or thepromotion of antisocial behavior by online groups such as Anonymous maybe contributing to a culture that some Millennials call a“new paradigm.” Acts of civil disobedience against thefinancial industry and corporations are part of the agenda, andinsurance companies are not exempt from these actions.

The term “Millennials” was coined by William Strause andNeil Howe, authors of the book “Millennials Rising: The Next GreatGeneration.” Young people are no more corrupt than baby boomers,but the younger generation has far more advanced technical skillsthan the greying population and some are using those talents tocommit criminal acts.

Hacker Lingo

One need only check out black hat hacker sites or newsreports to see that a considerable number of thosecommitting cybercrimes are actually teenagers who, among otherthings, are instigating data breaches from their parents'basements. In the hackercommunity, black hat hackers is a term for those who illegallyhack into sites, whereas white hat hackers are computer securityexperts. These hackers often walk a fine line between the two,as you will discover if you ever attend a hacker conference such asDefCon.

Millennials cut their teeth on the Internet. They know how touse the technology to get what they want, which can be a greatthing. Of course, in order to hide assets, some willput their money in Bitcoin and other digital currency.

What about those who want to work under the tablewhile collecting benefits for a fraudulent claim? There areall kinds of jobs available online for tech-savvy types who can getpaid through PayPal. After receiving payment, they canmove that money around anyway that they see fit.

Do you suspect that a claimant is involved infraudulent activities? He or she may be doing all of itonline through the underground markets. The most famous one, knownas the “Silk Road” was shut down in early October by law enforcement. At the time, $28million worth of Bitcions were confiscated from the owner, RossWilliam Ulbricht aka “Dread Pirate Roberts.”

A person can purchase virtually anything, fromillegal drugs and weapons to enlisting a hit man on thedigital black market. Of course, you have to know how to get thereand most of us don't have a clue. Do you know what the Tor Networkis? Exactly. A number of copycat sites are already in operation, but the feds arealready making busts and pushing the illegal activity even furtherunderground.

There is nothing illegal about Bitcoins. However, they areunregulated currency, which is attractive to people who want tohide money.

If you are investigating a suspicious claim or a fraudulentpersonal injury claim, then you must keep up-to-date about thelatest technology and also what the younger generation is doing. Weall know that social media is a great way to find out informationabout a claimant, but social media encompasses much more thanFacebook and Twitter.

Anyone looking to commit fraud can easily find pointersonline. “How can youcommit insurance fraud?” is not an uncommon question on onlineforums. There are also sites that show young people how to fake an injury to getout of going to school or work.

People are also learning to cover their tracks online. They use Tor or anonymizer sites to hidetheir identities. The generation that fell in love with socialmedia is also willing to stay off those sites if they havesomething to hide, or use fake profiles where only their closefriends know who they really are.

Does that mean it is impossible to obtain information on thesepeople? Everybody slips up sometime. Sure, afraudster may not be using his or her real name onsocial media, but the friends are. While it is almost impossibleto obtain information from encrypted communications, there areother ways to gather evidence of fraud in an insuranceinvestigation. The digital generation may communicate throughonline and mobile methods, but they have often forgotten thatold-fashioned investigative work is not conducted solelyonline.

While the Internet is a great source of information forinvestigations, the amount of data that can be obtained is alsosubject to legal restrictions. Professional investigators know whatinformation can legally be obtained and used inlitigation. Yes, some of the methods used to commit crimes,such as anonymous surfing, can also be used to uncover theseactivities.

An experienced private investigator understands that while youcan conduct image searches on sites like Google Image or Tin Eye,or you can retrieve exif data from photographs, most of our daily activities aren'tin cyberspace; they are in the real world. That makes surveillancean exceptionally important tool in the war against insurance fraud,especially in the workers' comp realm and era of rampant PIP fraud.The only people (other than law enforcement) who can undertakesurveillance are licensed private investigators.

The best approach is a comprehensive one, encompassing bothdigital and physical investigations. As you know, one road alwaysleads to another.