Dashcam footage allegedly shows the moment a trio of would-be scammers reversed into a car, apparently to pretend they had been rear-ended.
The video shows the vehicle, driven by the alleged scammers, proceeding down New York’s Belt Parkway in Queens before stopping in front of the car of the dash cam driver, Ashipa Natasha, and narrowly missing it.
After Natasha hit the brakes, the silver car also stopped in front of her vehicle and then quickly backed up towards Natasha’s car.
‘Oh my God, what is he doing?’ he asked in the clip.
Natasha was talking on loudspeaker to her husband and said: ‘I’ve just had an accident; I don’t know what’s going on. This guy just reversed himself on me, what the hell is going on?
Natasha was talking on loudspeaker to her husband and said: ‘I’ve just had an accident; I don’t know what’s going on. This guy just reversed into me, what the hell is going on?
She wrote in her post: “The silver Honda was in the center lane, they cut me off and slammed on the brakes to a complete stop hoping I would hit them. I didn’t hit their car and that’s why they reversed into my car and crashed.’
Natasha claimed that the two back seat passengers used a ‘tarp’ to cover the rear windscreen so the driver could switch seats with the female passenger.
Four passengers then left the car, holding their heads and acting as if they were injured while inspecting the damage to their car’s bumper.
Natasha said: “I think the intention was to say I hit his car for the purposes of insurance fraud.”
A female passenger, who exited the car from the driver’s side, began recording both vehicles. The other passenger also began documenting the accident and taking a photo of Natasha’s license plate.
‘They just got out of the car with their phones ready to record the damage to both cars. They quickly asked for my insurance and left quickly after the exchange,” Ashipa Natasha said.
A red Kia stopped in front of the silver car and picked up the alleged driver before driving away.
Natasha said she remembered the remaining passenger’s demeanor changing once they saw her dash cam.
‘They just got out of the car with their phones ready to record the damage to both cars. “They quickly asked for my insurance and left quickly after the exchange,” he wrote.
The passenger spoke to Natasha and explained that his wife was driving and did not speak English.
Natasha added in a follow-up video: “They rushed to change my license and my insurance and registration and everything, so I didn’t think anything of it.”
Natasha had asked the remaining passengers to wait until her husband showed up, but they said they had to leave “immediately to go pick up their baby.”
When a tow truck showed up to check Natasha’s car, the other passengers took the opportunity to return to their vehicle and leave.
“I’m not really sure if they attacked me because of my car or because they saw that I was driving alone,” she said.
“They didn’t really follow me for a long time. It seemed like everything happened very quickly. It definitely seemed like this had been planned for a while. “It’s definitely not the first time,” he added.
It wasn’t until Natasha watched the video again that she noticed the ‘setup’ or change of drivers, as she was driving alone and ‘everything happened very quickly.’
The video shows the vehicle, driven by the alleged scammers, proceeding down New York’s Belt Parkway in Queens before stopping in front of the car of the dash cam driver, Ashipa Natasha, and narrowly missing it.
Natasha posted three videos about the incident, showing the dash cam she uses in her car, as well as rear camera footage showing the red Kia following her.
The comments on her post were completely supportive, with one writing: ‘Absolutely press charges. They will do it again. Thank goodness you have a dash cam.
“Like everyone said PRESS CHARGES this is a really old trick and they literally got caught on the dash cam,” wrote another.
Keen observers also pointed out how the incident was apparently staged. An THAT’S WILD.’
Many viewers urged others to also invest in a dash cam, with another adding: “Insurance adjuster here: this happens a lot to people who drive high-end vehicles.” If you have a luxury vehicle (any brand), you DEFINITELY need a dash cam!!’
According to the New York State Motor Vehicle Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention BoardIn 2020, insurance companies reported 24,238 incidents of suspected motor vehicle insurance fraud.
