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Fraud and Corruption in the Insurance Industry: An Austrian Perspective

  • Maximilian Edelbacher
  • Michael Theil
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Abstract

Insurance fraud, while not a new problem, has recently taken on gigantic steps to becoming a leading crime problem through the world. In this chapter, the basic underlying principles of insurance are presented as well as some of the underlying reasons for the prevalence of insurance fraud in today’s society.

Insurance fraud differs from most other crimes in that the perpetrators of fraud often do not consider their acts as being criminal. The psychological motivations for taking on this attitude are presented in the chapter.

The dimensions of the insurance business in Austria, the types of insurance fraud committed by the offenders and the dimensions of insurance fraud in Austria are considered in the chapter. In addition the response of private and public investigators to violators, including the methods used to detect fraud in the insurance industry and the strategies used in the investigation and prosecution of fraudsters, is covered in the chapter. In addition, the importance of the co-operative efforts of the private investigators and the public justice agencies is considered.

Keywords

Insurance fraud Central information system Psychology of insurance fraud Board of insurance investigators Dimensions of insurance fraud 
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Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  • Maximilian Edelbacher
    • 1
  • Michael Theil
    • 2
  1. 1.Academic Council of the United NationsSystem Liaison Office ViennaViennaAustria
  2. 2.Institute of Risk Management and Insurance, Vienna UniversityViennaAustria

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