Italians who from November 2022 to November 2023 suffered a scam or attempted scam in the field of car liability insurance were almost two and a half million, 300% more than the previous year’s survey according to the survey commissioned by Facile.it to research institutes mUp Research And Norstat, with an estimated damage of almost 700 million euros “Such a significant increase in fraud in such a short period – explains Andrea Ghizzoni, Managing Director Insurance of facile.it – can also be read in relation to increases suffered by motorists And motorcyclists to take out a policy and the consequent desire to look for ways to save, unfortunately not always relying on safe methods”.
In just 12 months the average premium paid in Italy to insure a four-wheel vehicle has grown by 31.5%, reaching, last month, 610.87 euros, while that for two wheels rose by 41.4%, reaching 572.97 euros. “Italians want to save and criminals exploit this need to make users fall into their trap – Ghizzoni continues – brod, however, follow some simple precautions to protect yourself from fraud and fully enjoy the advantages offered by the numerous channels through which you can save on car and motorbike insurance”.
Channels…
If Italians lost a total of almost 700 million euros due to car or motorbike liability insurance scams, the survey highlighted how the average damage for each person defrauded was of approximately 287 euros, a very slight increase compared to 2022 (268 euros). But through what tools Are the frauds carried out? The web is one of most used channels, so much so that in 42% of cases the scams or attempted scams started with a fake email that links to clone sites. In almost 1 in 4 cases, however, it was a fake call center; this method has more than doubled compared to the previous survey, going from 11.1% to 23%. Then, among the most used tools, SMS (21%) and door-to-door (20%) follow. Finally, there is no shortage of fraud through social networks and instant messaging apps, which represent the channels through which 9% and 8% of respondents, respectively, fell into the trap.
…and the favorite victims
Looking instead at the profile of those who have been defrauded or, in any case, have suffered an attempted fraud in relation to car or motorbike liability insurance, the survey underlined that those interviewed were aged between 25 and 34 the favorite category from evildoers, with a percentage of victims equal to 9.1% (compared to a national average of 5.6%). On a territorial basis, however, it was the inhabitants of the South and the Islands who were most defrauded (6.8%), followed by the residents of Central Italy (5.9%). Finally, if we consider the educational level of the respondents, it emerges that the most affected are those interviewed with a university degree, with a percentage of victims equal to 7.8%.
Almost 1 in 2 do not report
What happens after the scam? Unfortunately, almost 1 in 2 victims (48%) do not report the fraud, a percentage equal to almost 1.2 million Italians; the number of people who declared that they had not reported the incident increased compared to the previous survey when it was equal to 41.7%. Among those who decided not to file a complaint, 31.3% said they did not do so because they did not want their family/acquaintances to know – a percentage more than doubled compared to last year (13.3%) – more than 1 in 4 (27.1%) because they felt naive for having fallen for it, while 20.8% because the economic damage was low. However, the percentage of those who decide not to report because they are certain that they would not have recovered what they lost is decreasing, a value that has gone from 33.3% in 2022 to 16.7% in 2023.
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