High-Tech Fraud

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Dennis loved computers. He spoke their language fluently. He could converse as easily in Windows, Basic, COBOL, FORTRAN, machine language, UNIX and Linux as English. Basic and DOS were child’s play to Dennis.

Dennis loved working on his HP desktop running Windows 10 and UNIX. He had available for use a 1200 x 2400-dpi color scanner, a full color laser printer that printed at 1200 DPI and a 60 inch flat screen monitor. On the appropriate paper the printer produced photographic quality images.

“Dennis,” Alain exclaimed, “these are valuable antiques (not to mention your computer systems). How can you live in that miserable, cheap apartment without renters’ insurance to protect you against burglary?” “

Appraiser Aisensohn took the photographs and said, “I can’t give you an appraisal from just photographs — when can I see the merchandise?”

When Dennis pulled out the five one hundred dollar bills he had in his wallet Aisensohn immediately sat at an old Underwood upright typewriter and began to type out an appraisal of the value of the various items depicted in the photographs Dennis provided to him. He made no comment, just silently put the bills in his pocket.

On the 310th day the policy was in effect, a Sunday morning, the day after Intel announced the shipment of 100,000 chips to Dell and HP, Dennis called the San Jose Police Department to report a burglary at his house. He informed the police officer that he left his home for only an hour and on his return, he unlocked his front door and realized he had failed to lock the window beside his third floor fire escape. All his antiques were gone. His HP desktop was gone.

He gave the police officer the list of insured items and told him that he had no insurance on the computer work station. Dennis called up his friend Alain’s father, reported the burglary and after a visit by a claims representative the insurance company delivered a check for $420,000 to him in exchange for a signed proof of loss.

Dennis lived happily ever after, occasionally creating new photographs as the computer industry created new toys.

ZALMA OPINION

If the insurer interviewed the appraiser they would have defeated the claim and Dennis would be in jail. The insurer did not. Dennis was a lucky criminal.

(c) 2022 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.

Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE is available at http://www.zalma.com and [email protected].

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