Workers’ compensation claimants are the latest group getting a lesson on what not to post on their social network sites.
Workers’ compensation claims investigators have taken to scouring social networking Web Sites including Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn in search of evidence of claimants participating in competitive sports, engaging in active hobbies, or conducting other businesses on the side.
For investigators, checking social media sites has increased the efficiency of investigations and reduced the need for video surveillance, which has been used for years to record disability claimants engaged in activity. “Now we have a new kind of video camera, but we are not actually the ones filming. They are filming it for us,” said Pierre Khoury, a special investigator for Harleysville Group Inc., a Pennsylvania-based insurer. Insurance companies typically use the evidence investigators uncover to reject workers’ compensation claims rather than to prosecute employees for fraud.
Self-incriminating videos and information turn up on claimants’ social media sites with surprising frequency. Consider the Los Angeles factory worker who claimed a back injury but posted extensive information about his participation in bowling tournaments including the name of a bowling alley he frequented. A judo instructor also claimed a total and permanent back injury yet posted the dates and locations of future judo classes on his site. Investigations have also uncovered many cases of claimants who play in rock bands, compete in fishing tournaments, or boast of new businesses they’ve started when they claim to be unable to work.
Because insurers have had success in fighting fraudulent workers’ compensation claims based on social media evidence, investigators have gotten more diligent about checking the sites for information.
—“Comp Cheats Confess All on Social Networking Sites,” by Roberto Ceniceros, Workforce Management Online, Sept. 2009.
