A few years ago I was leaving the Writer’s Guild in Beverly Hills, carefully and slowly backing out of a parking spot. Behind me was only one lane of traffic, and it had cordially stopped for me to finish backing out. There were no other cars in the lot near me or behind me. I was keeping my eye on the traffic waiting for me to back out to make sure it didn’t move. It didn’t.

Suddenly there was a car behind me. The driver had backed into position, going the wrong way, positioning himself just in the right spot so I would hit him close to where he had previous damage. I applied the brakes and just barely touched his vehicle, on the rear side fender.

He got out of the car, hysterically yelling and screaming at me, saying I had caused all of this damage to the back of his vehicle, and he had just gotten it fixed yesterday because the same thing had happened to him last week … and he just happened to have the original estimate in his car, so if I would write him a check tonight for $7,500, he would not turn it over to my insurance. He showed me the estimate, but I wasn’t about to pay him because I smelled a rotten liar.

Interestingly, the man did not have a driver’s license with him but insisted on seeing mine, and he took down my insurance information. I didn’t turn it in to my insurance, because where I touched his car, there was no damage; none of my paint left was behind; and I noticed that my bumper did not match the height of the damage he was alleging I had done to the back of his car.

The next day my insurance company called me, since this man had called them and painted a bleak picture of how I had hit him from behind. He was now claiming he needed to see a doctor, his neck and back were bothering him, he was having headaches, and he was going to be missing work.

At this point, I told my insurance company I never even touched the back of his vehicle, and that I’d only barely touched his side fender going less than 5 mph, and that if they came out to measure my bumper and his caved-in trunk, they would see it didn’t match.

The insurance company was nearly convinced I had done all of the damage to the man’s vehicle, and to the man himself. But eventually, they took my advice and measured my bumper and his trunk and also noted some blue paint left behind on his trunk. (My car was silver.)

So it was proven to be a staged accident … an insurance scam.

I don’t know what happened to the claimant. He should have been jailed for trying to defraud the insurance company.

A few years ago, no one realized this was a new scam. Now, it happens all the time. Not all “accidents” are truly accidental. There are names for some of the staged accidents. A few of them are “the side swipe,” “the wave in” and “the swoop and squat.” There are so many others that it would take pages to describe them all.

The “swoop and squat” occurs when two or three vehicles work together to cause an accident. You’re driving along when a car (the squatter) pulls in front of you. A few seconds later, another car (the swooper) cuts off the car in front of you, forcing it suddenly to brake. (In some cases, another vehicle might drive alongside you, boxing you in.) Caught off guard, you rear-end the vehicle in front of you. The car that caused the accident slips away, leaving you “responsible” for the accident.

The “panic stop” resembles the swoop and squat, with one key difference: The criminal car is loaded with passengers. As in the previous scenario, the car pulls in front of you, and a partner in crime is watching your every move, waiting for that split second when you take your eyes off of the road. And then, bam. The car in front slams on the brakes (often with purposely knocked-out brake lights). And because you’re distracted, you don’t react in time to avoid the collision.

This one generally occurs in heavy traffic. Let’s say you’re stuck in gridlock when the driver in front of you begins to move forward. You think traffic is finally moving, so you follow, but suddenly the car in front of you slams on the brakes before you can do the same.

You’re driving in heavy traffic and you want to switch lanes. A seemingly kind-hearted driver (a bad Samaritan) waves you in, but as you maneuver into the lane, the driver suddenly accelerates, running into your car. When the police arrive, the driver claims you were never waved in, making it look like you were being careless.

The sideswipe occurs at intersections with two left-turn lanes. Maybe you accidentally drift a bit into the other lane so the scammer sideswipes you, claiming it was your fault. Or the scammer drifts a bit into your lane and sideswipes you. When the police arrive, it’s one driver’s word against the other’s. (In some cases, false witnesses could be working in concert with the scammers to place the blame on you.)

Car insurance fraud occurs when someone deceives a car insurance company for financial gain. Not only do they profit from getting funding for their vehicle, but sometimes they are also awarded millions of dollars from fraudulent court cases against the insurance company, where they claim false injuries.

An additional bilking scheme sometimes occurs at the scene of an accident. Someone might approach you, acting like a good Samaritan. This person is likely to refer you to a good lawyer, doctor or vehicle body shop. It is likely all of these entities are in on the scheme and continue to make money off of your insurance company.

Beware of anything that seems too good to be true. If you are the least bit suspicious, tell your insurance company. You might be the victim of a staged accident con artist or gang.

If you suspect an insurance fraud crime, it is your duty to fight back. Keep in mind that you will be blamed for the accident, your insurance will go up, you will probably lose in a court case, and your insurance just might be canceled. Your life will be disrupted by car repairs, claims, settlements, police reports, lawsuits and on and on. The people responsible for these types of fraudulent claims need to be put behind bars.

Be wise if you’ve been in an accident. At the scene, count how many people are in the other car. Oftentimes, more and more victims keep filing claims against you. If you have a camera with you, take a photo of the car and the people inside. Use lawyers that you trust. Use your doctor, not one that someone might have just suggested to you. Use a body shop that you know.

When you’ve had an accident, call a tow company that you know. I belong to the Automobile Club, and I have called them for help. Be suspicious if there is suddenly a tow truck there conveniently to help you out. This is another way the accident scammers make money off of you. They tow your car away at highly inflated rates – and you’ve just had an accident, so you’re too upset to ask what he’s going to charge you.

Get as much information as you possibly can at the scene of an accident. Take photos; take notes; get the driver’s license number, the vehicle registration, the other driver’s insurance information, name, address and phone number; and make a note of the driver’s height, weight and ethnicity as well as the passengers’. Photos are great if your accident turns out to be staged. If those same “mugs” keep turning up in court month after month, sooner or later they will end up behind bars.

Finally, never settle with cash at the scene of an accident. If they are asking for cash, you can be sure the person is a scammer. Remember, it’s a veritable jungle out there.

Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel is executive director of the Community Hiking Club and president of the Santa Clara River Watershed Conservancy. Contact Dianne through communityhikingclub.org or at zuliebear@aol.com.