Insurance frauds hit record high last year

Published : Mar 22, 2016 - 13:50 Updated : Mar 22, 2016 - 14:29

False claims for insurance money jumped 9.2 percent to reach a record high last year as hospitals and insurance planners got involved in large-scale insurance fraud, government data showed Tuesday.

The amount of false insurance claims climbed to 655 billion won ($564 million) in terms of payments last year, up from 599.7 billion won a year earlier, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said in a statement.

Financial Supervisory Service headquarters in Seoul (Yonhap)

The value of false insurance claims has risen over the past few years, reaching 519 billion won, according to the FSS.

The financial watchdog detected 83,431 suspects for fradulent insurance claims last year, slightly down from 84,385 the previous year.

Insurance fraud scammers took an average of 7.8 million won per person last year, a 10.4 percent on-year increase, it said. (Yonhap)