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In a recent turn of events, seven men of Saudi and Pakistani nationalities, in their teenage, were arrested by the Dubai police for illegally staging road accidents, stealing cars, dismantling them, and selling car parts. This also helped to shed some light on their overall line of business. It was to stage road accidents by rear-ending innocent driver’s vehicles, stealing cars, and then taking advantage of the panicked situation. They further disassembled the cars in individual chop shops in south Riyadh and then sold the parts to auto parts shops. This was the information shared by Major Khaled Al Kreidis, the spokesperson of Riyadh police.

The criminals further disassembled cars as soon as they got their hands on those stolen cars to escape from the police. On the contrary, the police were able to recover all the stolen parts. The thieves were put under custody before being referred to the Public Prosecution for further interrogation and trial.

How do you know if you are a victim of one of these staged accidents?

There are a few things that can ruin your day as much as a car accident does. To make it worse is when you end up as a victim of a staged accident. This is a common scenario when a country is going through economic problems, like the global crisis faced due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

What are the kinds of staged car accidents?

1. T-Bone: As you pass through an intersection, a dishonest driver drives their car into the side of your car, “t-boning” your car. They might have false witnesses standing by to say you were responsible for running a red light or a stop sign.

2. Drive Down or Wave: A dishonest driver waves you into traffic to merge ahead of them. They speed up and hit you when you pull into the lane. They deny that they told you after the accident.

3. Swoop and Squat: When a dishonest driver gets in front of you and slams on his brakes, causing you to rear-end his car. This is a widespread scam.  This will arise in heavy traffic. He or she might be working on boxing you in with other drivers so that you do not swerve out of the way. They also have a lot of people in the vehicle who pretend to have been wounded.

What are the signs that tell that your accident is staged?

- You might come across several “witnesses” who will vouch for the other driver’s side of the story.

- Someone might approach you after the accident and might persuade you to visit a doctor or auto body shop.

- In certain situations, the car might have several passengers, and after an accident, they might appear to be calm and relaxed. But as soon as the police show up, they start acting differently and complain about various injuries.

- The other vehicle driver will try to talk to you from calling the police or try to get you to settle for cash on the spot and prevent you from reaching your car insurance provider.

How can you prevent such situations?

- Keep a close eye on your surroundings while driving. Don’t use your cell phone or engage in a conversation with your passengers. Don’t tailgate other cars.

- Be sure to collect good pictures of the accident scene from all angles, including the other driver’s photos, his or her license plate, and damage caused to vehicles.

- Always have a pen and paper along with you. At the time of an accident, use it to note the incident and surrounding information like the other car driver’s description, and so on, while everything is still fresh within your mind. You can also try voice recording the entire situation using your cell phone.

- Immediately call the police and file a report regarding the car accident. Also, remember to get a copy of the file report and follow up with the officer.

- Report the entire scenario to the insurance company and do not agree to settle for cash on the post.