It's probably accurate to say that most adjusters and examiners have handled dubious property insurance claims. Questions frequently arise as to the true cause of losses, the extent of the alleged loss, the insured's representations during the investigation as to ownership, and the documentation submitted in support of the claims.

Claims adjusters and examiners routinely request proof of ownership or purchase in the form of receipts or photographs of the property now claimed to have been lost or stolen. Policies of all types require an insured to provide information or evidence in accordance with the policy's general conditions, sometimes called the cooperation clause or "Your duties after loss."

Bogus receipts or invoices have been created or fabricated by some individuals. They may have obtained blank receipts from office supply stores or actual blank receipts from retail outlets. In other instances, actual receipts were modified by whiting out, cutting and pasting information, dates and prices. The fraudulent receipt usually over-stated the value or cost of the item or the date of purchase was changed. Falsified receipts were then photocopied and submitted as proof of purchase or acquisition. If Polaroid photos were submitted, it was possible to determine that an instant photo was taken after the date of loss because the manufacture date was imprinted on the back. Then computers were used to create bogus receipts with computer programs such as Adobe Photoshop or similar software.