Caught on Tape: Phony Falls that Cost You Money

Insurance fraud involving property and casualty claims has become big business - costing American consumers an estimated $30 billion a year. CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports one of the fastest-growing scams involves slipping and falling on purpose.

In Phoenix Arizona, a horrible fall. A 39-year-old woman slips on a hot dog in a store. Paramedics rush in to help. It's a cost of doing business: a customer falls - the business has to pay.

(Scroll down to watch the video.)

But Mark Sakalares says more than ever, slip-and-falls are turning out to be fraud. He's a special agent at the National Insurance Crime Bureau in Chicago.

"It's extremely difficult to prove," Sakalares said. "Because the person did fall. Did they get hurt when they fell? Well, how can you prove they didn't?"

Occasionally, investigators get lucky. There's surveillance video.

Take the case of the "Juice Man" Michael Rhinehart in South Carolina. He slips in some orange juice at a grocery store. But rewind the tape and see he fiddles with a yellow "wet Floor" safety cone, takes the juice from his cart and pours it on the floor. All that's left to do is stash the bottle, walk back, and slide down into the puddle he made. He hoped the act was worth $8,000. All he got was a trip to jail.

2009 Insurance Fraud Report

Often, the scammers work with partners. Meet the "Hair Pair", 72-year-old Johnella Howard and her caretaker Susan Snow. Howard appears to suffer a frightening fall.

But rewind, and watch as she first smears water around with her foot. Snow, her partner in crime, looks on from her grocery cart. And the fall? It's more like a "sit." Howard even adjusts her hair before getting into position. The pair tried for $300,000. Instead, they got prosecuted and banned from the grocery for life.

2010 could be the biggest year ever for suspicious slip-and-falls, according to new data provided to CBS News.

The Insurance Crime Bureau alone worked 469 cases the first half of the year. If the trend holds, the Bureau says it will be a 50-percent increase over 2008.

"Costs that are paid by these big stores or the insurance companies, it's dollars that come out of the consumer's pockets," Sakalares said.

Florida's a hotspot. That's where we found the "Cider Rider." Anna Nikolyszyn tried to get $150,000 for her fall. The plan was foiled by surveillance video. Rewind and it shows her pouring apple cider on the floor, topping it off with a plantain, then pushing her cart through it before the fake fall. She was convicted of fraud.

In another Florida town, the "Olive Oil Woman" strikes. She collapses and paramedics take her away. But rewind to see what happened moments before. The same woman picks up a bottle of olive oil, pours it on the floor, stashes it on a shelf, returns to her slick and performs not one fall, but two.

By now, you know there's more to the story of Lesa Bonilla, the Phoenix woman who fell on a hot dog.

Rewind, and you find the source of the offending food: Bonilla's partner Tommy Masterson. First, he buys the dog, a child with him. Then, he puts it on the floor where seconds later, Bonilla heads straight for it and artfully catches it under her foot. Both were convicted of fraud. Turns out they'd done it before.

Thanks to the video, they couldn't shake down businesses and customers who ultimately pay or give police the slip.

[carolspondenceink]

I agree there are scam artists.
I disagree that people have to constantly watch out where they step. Should we not have normal expectations of safety when we are the invited "guests" into a business? Should the business be able to show that they had no responsibility then what? But again, what happens when the company does admit responsibilty? Do they try to change the policy - maybe have the floors swept more often? Train the staff to be aware of dangers and correct them immediately? Apologize in writing to the injured party? Offer to help them immediately with medical expenses and proper care immediately - so that the business has some control.

I WOULD LIKE THE REPORTER TO DO THE "OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY" AND TALK ABOUT PEOPLE GENUINELY HURT who do not get proper care because of the insurance companies.

I have a story to tell... I'd like to find out how to get my hip fixed!!

[TakeNotes]

I have reviewed all the previous comments, many of which have been written out of ignorance.

I have a unique perspective because I am a general liability claims examiner. I handle these slip and fall claims on behalf of the retailers. Many larger stores these days are self-insured, but they still use a claim service to handle their claims, so the negative comments about insurance companies often do not apply.

Most slip and falls are real. Some are faked. This news story says, "a customer falls, the business has to pay." This is not true. Most slip and fall claims are denied, valid or not. Why? Because falling at a store is not enough to establish liability. The customer must PROVE that they fell due to the store's negligence or wrong doing. That can be hard to prove. If the store can show, through testimony of their employees, that the store had established reasonable practices to keep the premises safe, then the store is not responsible for causing the fall. Even if the customer fell on spilled water, if the store had no notice of the spill, then how can the store be held responsible?

The bottom line is that people have to watch where they step, and take responsibility for their own negligence or carelessness. It is good to see people get prosecuted for fraudulent claims.

[010sonny]

Good to see something worth taking notes of on this thread. I was on a jury that had to determine a claim. Duration of trial was 1 week.From semantics to evasive manuevers from both sides of the equation the verdict was unamious that was to rule that the insurance company was fraudelent in their case to dismiss claim. As with you I to enjoy observing that the people get prosecuted for fraudulent practices.

[barbaram99]

I can believe that there are people who do what the artcle saids ..There are folks who do fall..I am careful. Yet it is appalling that they will set up others. I have never done so. I am a sp needs person. I have fallen. I am not sue happy.

[crazyname]

Probably the same people allready living off the government looking for easier money. Knowing the ambulance chaseing lawyers, anybody with insurance is a target, the bigger the better. I know for a fact that it is no about truth, a real fall, an accident, it is who has the most insurance, and sue anybody even remotely involved, one or more will pay up instead of fighting and their lawyers know it.

[avigil2]

These low-life trashy people really need to get a grip.

[intelligentliberal]

I should add that it's a gamble because, if you lose, no matter how good your case is, insurance companies go after you for costs, making it impossible for you to appeal.

[intelligentliberal]

How do you sue insurance companies when they own the legal system?
It's a gamble.
Most lawyers don't do the work necessary to win because the get paid regardless.
Plus, no jury can be told that an insurance company is being sued - that's so their lawyers can, and do, tell the jury that the defendant is 'poor' to get sympathy and win the case.
Insurance companies have done lots of things to sabotage our right to fair trials against them.
This has to change, so search for 'legal parasites' and get involved.
Make something positive come from this news story.

[pragmatist1]

Too many want to chastise the fraud occurring on Wall Street, while the fraud occurring on Main Street is rarely focused on. The fraud in these videos is nothing compared to the fraud by workers collecting Workman's Comp or who are on SSI and not disabled. Then there is the rampant fraud with Medicaid, food stamps, etc. The fraud on Wall Street is just as egregious and evil as the fraud being committed on Main Street.

[rmoore17]

I despise these kind of people. They're part of the problem with insurance costs skyrocketing. The other is ambulance chasers, better known as trial lawyers.

[BillinDetroit]

Where is this $30 billion number coming from?

"Insurance fraud involving property and casualty claims has become big business - costing American consumers an estimated $30 billion a year." Who is making the estimate? What is the basis for it?

The only facts in the story are that 5 or 6 hundred people were caught trying to pull scams - apparently without success. So how does that become $30 billion in losses? Specifically, how does that cost CONSUMERS $30 billion? Shouldn't someone at CBS at least ask for some explanation for an extraordinary claim that seems unlikely to be true?

Running videos of scammers caught in the act is fun, but this is really a puff piece for the insurance industry. The insurance companies are hoping to poison juries into believing that every injury claim is a fake, and CBS is helping them do it.