Fraud Investigations

Fraud investigation is the practice of employing accounting, and investigative skills to assist in the determination of whether criminal matters such as employee theft, securities fraud (including falsification of financial statements), insurance fraud, and identity theft have occurred.

Fraud is theft in the form of some type of scam with the explicit intent to deceive a rightful owner and take something of value, usually money..

One example of fraud is where someone produces a product or service making specific claims about the product service and knowing that the product won’t work as promised.   Another common form of fraud is insurance fraud. 

Here at Peak investigations, based in Phoenix Arizona, fraud investigations will start by a meeting between the investigator and the client.  The client explains why they suspect deceit and hands over any evidence they have supporting their claim.  The investigator will use this initial information to obtain more evidence and information.

To accomplish this the investigator may use asset searches, background checks, social media investigations, employee investigations and integrity testing among other methods.

The most common type of fraud investigated here at Peak investigations is insurance fraud.  There are many types of theft and fraud that are not discussed here, but much of the strategies and tools described are used in much the same manner.

One of the most common forms of insurance fraud is worker’s compensation fraud.  Typically, the way worker’s compensation fraud works is a false claim of an injury at work by an employee.  This compensation pays for lost wages, medical expenses, and other expenses while the employee allegedly recovers from the false injury.

Typically the company that employs the person committing fraud will converse amongst themselves to determine the scope of this investigation.  They typically have an insurance company that administers the “workers compensation” 

The insurance company will generally conduct interviews and research.  The research usually consists of background checks and other research such as prior claims by this alleged fraud and whether or not the employee had been convicted or sanctioned in any fraudulent claims in the past.

Investigators here at Peak investigations then conduct surveillance and also gather other evidence such as a deep dive into the subject’s open web and social media looking for clues and evidence into the subject’s claim.

If you suspect someone of fraud, or other types of theft and feel a private investigator will best suit your investigative needs, give us a call at 602-341-3703