It was a big day for everyone at this birthday party, but not because everyone had a good time. Here's Boom Boom the clown, lugging in her bulky bag of tricks. The kids were entertained all right by her wacky magic and happy-go-lucky antics. But this party is where Boom Boom's luck runs out.Boom Boom is actually former school bus driver Shelly Kierstead, who claimed she was totally disabled and couldn't work. She'd injured her shoulder, working the bus door. She collected $20,000 in workers' compensation until the insurance company found Kierstead was working as Boom Boom.Talk about a surprise party. This one was a sting. The camera belonged to investigators, so Boom Boom's career as a clown and a con artist came to an end.Hank Phillippi Ryan, 7NEWS Investigative Reporter”Are they surprised when you catch them?”Tony DiPaolo, Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau”Yes, very much so. They usually don't expect us to find them.”But lurking behind piles of dirt, hidden by trees and waiting in cars, Massachusetts investigators are watching, and we obtained their exclusive undercover videos, showing scammers caught on camera.Here's William Woolf, caught on the job in a North Carolina tattoo parlor. This former Big Dig electrician claimed he was totally disabled after a fall on the job. This tape told a different story, and Woolf admitted he'd been lying to collect more than $8,000.Here's ironworker Albert Rohrbacher walking at a job site in his hard hat, throwing some blueprints into a van, then firing up a blowtorch and going to work. Investigators knew this construction worker claimed he was totally disabled after a fall on ice and snow.After this video, he confessed the fraud. Investigators say he'd collected more than $70,000.Now, check out this parachuting speck in the sky. He's Tim Bernard, a dockworker who claimed to be unable to work.What Bernard doesn't know he's just jumped out of an airplane at 13,000 feet and landed right into the video camera of insurance fraud investigators.He chitchats, he's cool and they're getting it all on tape.Investigator”Have you done this before?”Tim Bernard”Yes.”Soon after he was grounded, he was in court and admitted to workers' compensation fraud.So why do you care about Bernard, Rohrbacher, Woolf and Boom Boom? Their illegal gain is your loss.Your employer pays for workers' compensation coverage. When there are payouts, your company's insurance premiums can go up. More money spent for insurance means less money for you.Tony DiPaolo, Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau”That could mean money for raises or benefits will no longer be there.”Now, take a look at Tim Hayes of Gloucester. He claimed total disability.But here's Hayes up on a ladder and working, caught on a camera hidden behind a pile of dirt.All these slam-dunk videos helped bring the scams to an end. Some went to prison, and some were ordered to pay restitution by giving back the tens of thousands of dollars they scammed.Bill Fischer, Beacon Mutual Insurance”It affects everyone in the system.”But we found even when law enforcement works, the punishment may not. Insurance experts know some never pay that money back, and the system is ripped off again.Bill Fischer, Beacon Mutual Insurance”They're absolutely stealing.”So, how many other clowns, skydivers and tattoo artists are out there? With 18,000 claims a year in this state, investigators admit they can't know.But they warn anyone plotting a disability deception, you never know who's watching.Tony DiPaolo, Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau”We cant catch every single one, but they'll try.”How do investigators start to suspect someone is trying to cheat the system? They tell us they catch a lot of people thanks to tips from neighbors and coworkers.
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