The Toronto Star has reported that practitioners’ signatures and/or credentials are being utilized for insurance fraud without the professional’s knowledge. The article titled Shady clinics bill 1.3 billion in bogus car insurance claims scam, was written by Michele Henry and published on July 13, 2011 in the Toronto Star. It states, “Insurance companies only pay out if treatment is given by a regulated health professional — a doctor, chiropractor, physiotherapist, or massage therapist. It appears that [bogus] clinics sometimes steal a professional’s information. In other cases, a professional briefly worked in the clinic and left behind a college- issued registration number and electronic signature.” Henry also writes, “Health care professionals from all disciplines say the province must do something to stop their credentials from being misused.” Insurance investigators claim that more than 300 clinics in the Greater Toronto Area loosely connected in fraudulent rings are working this system.
