Insurance Fraud is on the rise across the board

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=775393
http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/health-insurance-fraud-rise/2010-01-29
http://www.siliconmdt.com/state-new-york-iinsurance-industry-affected-rise-no-fault-fraud-claims

Here are three interesting articles about the rise of different kinds of insurance fraud from 2009 into 2010.  With the economy still foundering, this will only become a more pronounced problem.  Every sticky fingered, down-on-their-luck, "poor me" scammer out their that has his or her head filled with dreams of easy money and days of sitting around watching daytime television while they collect our money seems to think that now is a great time to cash in.  This is especially true for those would-be claimants who are having trouble making ends meet with their current job and don't have any qualms about getting hurt at work so they can go out to make a little dough on the side.  
Do you have a WC claim involving a person whose hours at work were recently reduced, or had their overtime taken back? A claim involving someone who has recently had more job duties added to their workload because of cutbacks elsewhere?  A claimant that you know has had financial troubles recently? 
A little investigation now can go a long way toward mitigating these claims in the long run, especially with nice weather on the way within the next month or so.