Social Media is all the rave today. Young and Old alike love 'selfies' and telling all of their friends about their exciting lifestyles - like 'Didn't have my coffee yet' or 'at McDonald's Drive Through", but did you know that Social Media is also playing an increasing roll in uncovering Workers' Compensation Fraud? It's true - every week or two I see another article that shows how valuable Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and similar services can prove in uncovering fraudulent WC Claims. A few weeks ago, it was reported that a former public servant who allegedly had a disabling job-related injury had been 'seen' on Facebook carrying loads of shingles up-and-down a ladder and even remarking about how tired he was from his work. The Social Media investigation was adequate to have his claim overturned and he was ordered to return $68,000 in lost-time benefits and may face a prison sentence.
Similarly, in Business Insurance I recently read an article titled "Employer snooping cuts comp claim costs" that validates in more detail some of the various ways that Workers' Compensation carriers and Employers can use Social Media to identify Workers' Comp fraud. I highly recommend the article which appears here .
Some of our clients have also used video security to capture video of employees that were doing things that they told there doctors that they were not able to do. For example, we helped one of our clients assemble testimonial evidence from their security video showing a employee who was allegedly injured a few days earlier - the video showed him entering their facility with recycled materials through their scales and then waiting comfortably in the garage for payment. His problem was that the scales and payment and clock also proved that he also unloaded over 400 pounds of material from his vehicle without any apparent difficulty. Next time that you have a claim that is a 'red flag', how can we help you reduce your long-term Workers' Compensation costs by reducing the costs associated with fraud?