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News & Current Events Apr 18, 2026 at 6:05 AM

3 Southern California residents sentenced in bear suit insurance fraud scheme

Posted by CaTz_EyE

3 Southern California residents sentenced in bear suit insurance fraud scheme
ABC7 Los Angeles
3 Southern California residents sentenced in bear suit insurance fraud scheme
Three Southern California residents have been sentenced in a bizarre insurance fraud scheme which prosecutors say involved them staging fake bear attacks on high-end cars.
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PeachtreeUnited Apr 18, 2026 +132
Bear f*****, do you need assistance?
132
mbmm Apr 18, 2026 +26
This and *Move that gigantic cotton candy!* are go-tos for me.
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Pretend-Function-133 Apr 18, 2026 +11
How’s the view from sugar heaven b****?!?
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Awareness_Logical Apr 18, 2026 +5
Pink stick, eat it or lose it 😂
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EggNo289 Apr 18, 2026 +9
"You boys like Mexico?"
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FaylerBravo Apr 18, 2026 +10
“Well it’s illegal, Burton, I know that.”
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IndependentLove2292 Apr 18, 2026 +123
A Rolls-Royce? Presumably someone had some money to get that car, and yet they're using it for insurance fraud? Where did they get the money for the car to begin with, wire fraud? 
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RepresentativeOk2433 Apr 18, 2026 +82
Totalling an insured car is often a windfall if it's worth more than you paid for it. You can find older high mileage luxury vehicles for less than BBV. I assume the scam goes like this. Buy 50k car for 30k. Put full coverage on it then total it through "bear attack damage." Insurance totals the car and writes them a check. Last time I got rear ended, their Insurance paid out 3x what I had paid for it, although I think they pay extra for accidents to quickly settle.
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Hotrian Apr 18, 2026 +11
The last 3x times I got rear ended, insurance only paid me what the car was worth, paying off the loan for the second two. The first I owned outright, but it was only worth $3k BBV at that point which is what they paid out :(. I got an extra $700 total to cover misc costs. All 3 times full coverage insurance. GAP coverage on second and third cars.
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arepotatoesreal Apr 18, 2026 +5
I had full coverage on my car that got totaled when a tree fell on it. I had to fight with my insurance company (Geico at the time) for a month negotiating the price. Got them to pay a few thousand more than the original appraisal and it STILL was well short of what a replacement would cost me. And like two thousand short of what the same car with similar miles was selling for at dealerships. What insurance are you guys using to get more money than the car is worth?
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wickedsmaht Apr 18, 2026 +3
I think the people you’re responding to are probably factoring in injury claims as well. There is absolutely zero chance that someone is getting paid 3x what a car is worth for a damages claim. The coverages are treated separately even though they’re handled under the same claim. Insurance will only pay for what the car was worth on the market at the time of the accident. They look for comparable vehicles in the area and factor in age, mileage, condition, and anything extra like new tires. And the lien holder always gets paid first. And yes, It does mean that you sometimes have to fight the insurance company because the comps they pick can be questionable.
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CheezTips Apr 19, 2026 +1
Geico is the WORST
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unknown1313 Apr 18, 2026 +4
But if you buy for less then it's worth, then you profit... At least until you get caught like here.
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RepresentativeOk2433 Apr 18, 2026 +2
Yes what the car was "worth". If you had a loan its safe to say you probably bought it from a dealer and likely paid more than BB for a still depreciating car. But most private parties are selling under BB value for cash. A clapped out civic on marketplace for 2k might "book" for 5k if it has low miles.
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Hotrian Apr 18, 2026 +2
Totally valid points, I was just trying to dissuade insurance fraud, I suppose. In some cases you might get a payout but in my case it was a big headache that only just paid off the car.
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ImportantObjective45 Apr 18, 2026 +25
Or in my case zero of what they owed, probably plenty for permanent injuries.
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k_realtor Apr 18, 2026 +3
Ah basic fraud, international insurance fraud would pay out more. I remember a scene from an old [gangster movie ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7w7eaaZ9B4)called Menace 2 Society that seemed fake but realized now it was actually happening a lot during those times. So you get your money back and more money sold to some rich guy overseas. so it would $20K from the regular fraud plus get your original $30K back and some more depending on the car model.
3
kjtstl Apr 18, 2026 +2
That’s the scam! The only thing you missed is that they were doing it with multiple cars and more than one policy per car,
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BePart2 Apr 18, 2026 +2
If it’s worth 50k can’t they just, sell it for 50k??
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RepresentativeOk2433 Apr 18, 2026 +2
"Worth" and worth are two very different things. Plenty of cybertruck owners learned that the hard way. In my instance the car was covered in scratches and door dents which is why we were able to buy it so c****. When it got hit by a drunk driver, the insurance didn't seem to factor that cosmetic damage into the value and paid us full price.
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FigMaleficent4046 Apr 19, 2026 +1
Pretty much anyone can borrow money to buy a car
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[deleted] Apr 18, 2026 -16
[deleted]
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Tyrrox Apr 18, 2026 +16
No, it's pretty straightforward insurance fraud. The article says they submitted the same claim to multiple other insurance companies. The intent was to illegally gain funds from the insurance companies.
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SupermanRR1980 Apr 18, 2026 +31
I pay The Homer Tax. Let The Bears pay The Bear Tax.
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Isvanburean Apr 18, 2026 +23
Mystery Inc. would have solved this in a single spooky night
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wickedsmaht Apr 18, 2026 +1
The CA DOI moves very slowly in their investigations and they only consider referrals for investigation if there is a provable element of fraud. It’s annoying on the insurance end because you may pay something that’s clearly fraud and they won’t bring charges until a few years down the line.
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Puzzleheaded-Bag8314 Apr 18, 2026 +11
Older high-end cars needing expensive repairs can be had for pennies on the dollar. My guess is they bought something that needed repairs, insured the car, and then file a claim saying the car was totaled, hoping to receive the full value of a good running example of the car. They got greedy, if they had said mice got into their civic they probably would have gotten away with it.
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rpickens6661 Apr 18, 2026 +8
Did they do cocaine before getting into the suit?
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frogstampede_9 Apr 18, 2026 +23
Imagine being so committed to fraud you go full mascot. Wild that no one in the scheme said “this is too stupid to work.” Maybe insurers should auto-flag any claim involving “bear attack.”
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RainyDayColor Apr 18, 2026 +3
Many insurance companies will balk at paying full repair/replacement for animal-related collision damages, especially when the claimant reports, “I hit a \[deer, bear, elk, etc.\]” Boom, the driver failed to take sufficient preventative/evasive action to avoid hitting the deer that unexpectedly came bounding out of the brush and into their lane of travel. “Contributory negligence” = reduced payout. Which oddly enough doesn’t seem to be the usual case out where I live in critter country with abundant deer, where many collisions happen because apparently a big rig passing by in the opposite lane initially hit the deer in their lane, instantaneously catapulting the beastie into the claimant’s vehicle, depriving that driver of any possible opportunity to avoid or evade. Passing semi to the left, wide-eyed airborne Rudolph in front, fenced treeline to the right. No way out, no options, no fault. In this scenario, the claimant didn’t "negligently" hit the deer; *the deer hit the claimant*. That projectile deer would have caused significant damage even if claimant’s vehicle was in park at a dead stop. Big rig with the splatter mark bumper sticker long gone into the dark of night. The deer won’t be taking the stand. Prove it didn’t happen that way. ;tldr: Know your rights. The critter always hits *you*.
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Decent_Relative_4070 Apr 18, 2026 +7
I feel like the idea itself wasn’t TOO terrible but the execution was embarrassingly bad lol
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Random_Words_1827 Apr 18, 2026 +3
Oh, those poor poor insurance companies. Just make it harder for legitimate claims to get paid out. That's such a genius solution!
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[deleted] Apr 18, 2026 +2
[removed]
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Random_Words_1827 Apr 18, 2026 +1
Progressive profit in 2025: $11,300,000,000 Allstate: $10,200,000,000 Nationwide: $4,300,000,000 If all fraud suddenly stopped, do you think insurance companies would actually lower prices?
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[deleted] Apr 18, 2026 -2
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Random_Words_1827 Apr 18, 2026 +2
Youre so naive it's actually sad.
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[deleted] Apr 18, 2026 -4
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Random_Words_1827 Apr 18, 2026 +1
Your mother won't suck d*** for an underwriting ratio.
1
jmdierkhising04 Apr 18, 2026 +11
What in the scooby doo?
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detsd Apr 18, 2026 +2
Armenians and Fraud! Like clockwork and I’m Armenian myself this is why I stay away from all of them 
2
Bearthatatethosekids Apr 18, 2026 +3
Just get a real bear, and get real results
3
ToNoMoCo Apr 18, 2026 +3
This is all a ruse. It was a real bear and they're training it for that one last big job
3
whiskeyandtacos Apr 18, 2026 +2
Of course it’s Glendale 🐻
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TundroT21 Apr 18, 2026 +7
I know you never fooked a beah. You know you never fooked a beah. I don't want to hear about the beah you never fooked.
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pishposhpoppycock Apr 18, 2026 +12
Okay but this one time, in Baldur's Gate, this hunky muscular druid and I...
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Upbeat_Job4191 Apr 18, 2026 +2
Their video is very amusing
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MakesYourMise Apr 18, 2026 +2
just coast it into a tree damn
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Ecstatic_Wasabi_5166 Apr 18, 2026 +2
Southern California, a hub for creative schemes =)
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zalurker Apr 18, 2026 +2
Oh stop. This is just a subplot from Barry.
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CheezTips Apr 19, 2026 +2
I love that they had to call in a wildlife biologist
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rods_and_chains Apr 18, 2026 +2
This sounds more like Florida
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[deleted] Apr 18, 2026 +1
[removed]
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