Like many large-scale lucrative fraudulent activities, towingscams frequently require assistance from a variety of individualswho use legitimate businesses to defraud insurers and consumers.While the majority of tow operators are honest, hard-workingpeople, there are some who are brazen enough to perpetrateelaborate frauds that involve tow truck drivers, body shops,parking lot attendants and others.

Some of the more popular scams involve crooked body shops thatteam up with dishonest towing firms to steal cars that have been inaccidents explains James Quiggle, director of communications forthe Coalition Against Insurance Fraud.

“Towing firms will often monitor police frequencies for crashes.The tow truck shows up and the driver convinces the victim to takethe car to a dirty body shop. The car goes to the shop and theinsurance company is charged outrageous fees,” says Quiggle. “Therepair costs are inflated and sometimes more damage can be done tothe car or just shoddy repairs.” The tow company may alsocharge inflated rates just to tow the vehicle.