OREANDA-NEWS. February 08, 2010. The year 2009 has proved to be a challenging period for the employees of ROSNO Security Department and the similar departments in the majority of insurance companies. The year 2009 performance results of ROSNO Security Department have affirmed the reliability of the company’s security systems, which increase the efficiency of business processes adopted by IC ROSNO, reported the press-centre of ROSNO.

"Just as expected, in 2009, the major growth in fraudulent activities was observed outside Moscow and St. Petersburg. Due to the very reason of the regional „expansion“ of fraud, the Security Department’s employees traveled to the regions to investigate insured accidents 30% more often than in 2008. And such investigations resulted in the company’s rejection of loss claims in 18% of cases due to undeniable signs of fraud. No one of these rejected cases was legally contested. The filtration system built in 2007 to 2008 and improved in 2009 has also proved its effectiveness. The company’s ability to disclose fraud at its inception has enabled it to reduce the number of investigated insured accidents by 20%. At the same time, the year 2009 has seen a new and dangerous trend: the increasing size of fraudulent claims. Motor insurance, life insurance and property insurance still account for the major part of fraud cases. As a rule, fraudsters collude, instead of acting individually, and they try to use one and the same scheme within certain territory. For example, in 2009, we faced a whole series of expensive cars stolen in St. Petersburg and series of Gazel vehicles falsely stolen in Moscow, and an outbreak of insured accidents involving life insurance in Kurgan", commented on the year results Mr. Alexey Bebnev, head of ROSNO’s Counter-Fraud Department.

The successful performance of the employees of ROSNO Security Department has been largely ensured by knowledge of classical factors1, making for the growth of fraud:

1) Opportunity (pandering by various organizations, agents and intermediaries).
In 2009, ROSNO developed a number of internal regulations aimed to detect and prevent unlawful conduct towards the company, to create the environment of zero tolerance for fraud, and inform about possible fraudulent attempts. As a result of these measures, in 2009, the company managed to recover from the guilty parties over 14 million roubles of unlawfully appropriated monies.

2) Externals (financial problems, or the desire to get a financial gain).
In 2009, the influence of the second factor resulted from the economic crisis and growing unemployment (2.08 mln people throughout Russia, according to the RF Government), and it most strongly affected the Russian regions. Given these circumstances, in 2010, ROSNO Security Department is planning to launch a regular monitoring of new fraud trends and models arising in the regions. This will enable developing preventive measures and providing an additional opportunity for prompt response to the problem situations as they arise.

3) Rationalization ("My conduct is not unlawful", "It’s just once", or "I won’t be caught").
In 99% of cases, the exposed fraudsters do not acknowledge gravity of their actions. Furthermore, the experience gained by the Security Department shows that 10% of clients are ever ready to commit fraud, 20% of clients are law-abiding people, and 70% of clients can commit fraud in case of a favourable situation. By understanding this specifics, the company has been able to ensure timely detection of clients belonging to the high-risk groups and perform an additional investigation of losses claimed by such clients.

Some examples of fraud cases uncovered and prevented in 2009

The outbreak of expensive car theft in St. Petersburg in Q3 2009 resulted in the average value of a stolen car increasing to 1,200,000 roubles. (In 2008, it equalled 800,000 roubles.) ROSNO Security Department initiated prompt information exchange with representatives of other insurance companies to prevent further spread of fraud. This issue was raised at the extended joint meeting of the region’s insurers, police and prosecutor’s office in the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The joint efforts by all participants have enabled stabilizing the situation.

In May 2009, Moscow saw a notable increase in the number of stolen Gazel vehicles, although such vehicle had not been traditionally included in the "most frequently stolen" category. The ensuing investigation by ROSNO Security Department uncovered that all insured accidents of these series were well "organized": Gazels were driven to Tajikistan, whereafter the vehicle documents were returned to Moscow, and the insurant informed about the would-be theft. The staging of theft by the so-called Tajik gang was disclosed by the employees of ROSNO Security Department in coordination with the police and customs authorities. At present, the uncovered fraud cases are under criminal investigation.

1 D.Cressey’s "triangle". The American criminologist Donald Cressey (1919 — 1987) was the first to identify three key fraud factors.