Mobile phone insurance fraud is up.  No question.  The figures inside every insurance company speak volumes.

There are plenty of people who have bent their ethics and scruples for the sake of a new phone and now potentially face jail.  Police are taking this very seriously as well.

Hartlepool Police recently issued a warning to anyone considering commiting phone insurance fraud that they will face investigation and potential prosecution and jail.

Phone insurance companies like Mobile Phone Insurance UK have all said they are finding more 'suspicious' claims than in previous years.

A key part of this is attributed to the credit crunch.  With money being stretched people are trying to find ways - even illegal ways - to make their money go futher.

The unfortunate thing is it could take you all the way to the inside of a nasty prison sentence.

The Metropolitan Police are rigorous on falsely claiming a phone as stolen when it was not.  Phone theft claims and stories are checked if corroborated by CCTV footage across London.  Similar situations are going on in most cities.

As well as the opportunistic insurance fraudsters we have also seen a growth in what can be analysed as calculated and premeditated insurance fraud.  That is, that the purchase of original phone insurance policy was with the intend to defraud the insurer.

Frankly it is not worth it.

Not only is it completely immoral and illegal it just plain is not worth the downside. 

Detective inspector Keith Groves of Hartlepool Police told the Hartlepool Mail: "We are aware that some mobile phone thefts are false allegations for mobile phone insurance claims." However, he warned: "People think by falsifying a story they can receive a free upgrade or a new phone but it wastes police time and it is against the law. Recorded crime is fairly low at the moment and it is allowing us to take more time pursuing these false mobile phone insurance claims."

Think about your credit rating.  Information is made available in between insurance companies, and with credit scoring agencies.  What do you think is likely to happen to your chances of getting a mortgage again next time if you have had a 'suspicious' insurance claim, which for insurance companies and risk assessing agencies will read as 'probable insurance fraud'.  That is what these phone insurance fraud criminals need to think about - the bigger picture.

It is an unfortunate reality of human nature that ethics and morals are negotiable in times of financial trouble.

Such is life.  Lets hope with the improving ecnomic climate, as we climb out of this credit crunch, that we see improvements in phone insurance fraud