Some things are just too hard to bear. Getting caught in an insurance scam is surely one of those things. In California, four people are looking at jail bars from the wrong side after an attempt at insurance fraud in which they claimed a bear damaged their vehicles. The trouble is, the culprit was clearly a person in a bear suit.

They should have pawsed to think that through.

Officials arrested four people in California this week after state investigators said they committed insurance fraud by claiming a animal damaged their vehicles, when in reality it was someone wearing a bear costume. 

Los Angeles-area residents Ruben Tamrazian, 26, Ararat Chirkinian, 39, Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, and Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, are each charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy in connection to the reported scam, the state Department of Insurance announced.

The state agency's investigation began after an insurance company suspected fraud earlier this year, according to a news release.

Here's the kicker; based on at least one of the autos described, it's hard to write off the attempted scam as motivated by poverty.

The suspects told their insurance company a bear entered their 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost and caused interior damage to the vehicle on Jan. 28 in Lake Arrowhead, an unincorporated community in the San Bernardino Mountains, the release said.

A Rolls Royce? Seriously? A quick Web search reveals that a 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost can sell for between $80-100,000. For that money, one would expect the car to be pretty plush. 

Of course, they didn't get away with it, and in no small part because the scam was so transparent. The video, to anyone who knows bears, is revealing - and obviously fraud.

Watch “Department of Insurance - Operation Bear Claw” on #Vimeo https://t.co/vLYbLGzlFr

— Ward Clark (@TheGreatLander) November 14, 2024

It's no surprise that the fuzz caught up with them, and ended up being the bearer of bad news. Well, bad for them - good for the insurance company. I'm sure there is a claws in the insurance contract that permits them to deny payment when obvious fraud is involved. And honestly, you don't have to be a biologist to spot this as an obvious fake. A person in a bear suit looks and moves nothing like an actual bear. This attempt at a fast and furry-ous scam was doomed to fail from the moment they pawsed to put on the fake bear claws.

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Imagine if they had gotten away with it - imagine how many people would have tried to duplicate the scam. It would be panda-monium!

I'll be here all week. Try the veal, and don't forget to tip your server.

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