Moral, Social, and Economic Dimensions of Insurance Claims Fraud CONSUMER DISHONESTY STEMS FROM A COMPLEX INTERPLAY OF

m otivations and circumstances, moderated by morality, opportunity, social norms, and institutional context. The complexity is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in the case of insurance fraud, particu larly claims fraud. Claims fraud may arise as a result of deliberate plan ning or casual opportunity, and in each case it may involve complete fabrication of losses or relatively small exaggerations. It may be moti vated by pure profit seeking, a sense of entitlem ent, desperation, or resentment. It may even arise inadvertently due to differences of opin ion regarding contractual term s or an insured event. Insurance claims fraud is thus variously viewed as an economic-contractual problem, a moral-psychological problem, a moral-sociological problem, or a crimi nal problem. Because insurance claims fraud involves taking advantage of the insurer’s contractual promise to pay (some amount of) losses (in some circumstances), it differs from other common situations of consume