A Queens woman allegedly caught insurance fraud live on dashcam — silver Honda cut her off, reversed into collision causing $8,300 in damage. Here’s how to protect yourself now

"My first instinct was that I got caught in a road rage. It was very chaotic,” said Natasha on Good Morning America. “I just proceeded to treat it like an accident. I asked them if they were okay, and we were able to exchange information."

Regardless of the nature of the collision, Natasha was lucky to have the accident recorded.

What happened

As the dashcam continued to record, more suspicious behavior unfolded. The backseat passengers can be seen attempting to cover the Honda's rear window as the driver climbs over to the passenger seat before exiting the car, pretending to be injured by holding his head.

"The guy in the video told me that the female was the driver and that she doesn’t speak any English," Natasha said. Both the driver and two passengers can be seen recording the damage with their phones. Then, one of them spots the dash camera in Natasha's car.

“They were rushing to leave,” said Natasha. “They were like, ‘well we have to go, we have to go pick up our baby.’”

As Natasha turned around to check on the car, the passengers reentered the vehicle and drove away. And according to ABC7, the suspects ditched the car later on.

The suspicious behavior she witnessed prompted her to take the evidence to the police. Officers confirmed that these scams are not uncommon. Fraudsters often stage accidents then falsely claim personal injuries or vehicle damages to collect payouts from insurers.

The mechanics of a staged car accident

Staged accidents are a form of insurance fraud in which perpetrators intentionally cause collisions in an effort to file insurance claims for damages or personal injury. The goal is to make it look like the victim is at fault, forcing their insurance to cover the repairs and any alleged medical expenses.

By reversing into Natasha's car, the fraudsters likely planned to claim she rear-ended them, which is generally considered the trailing driver's fault.