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Why a New Social Media Screening Solution is a Game-Changer for Insurance Fraud Investigations
As fraud in Canada grows more sophisticated, new social media screening technology brings speed, customization, and court-ready evidence to the fight against fraud.
Social media has evolved into a powerful digital footprint — one that insurers can’t afford to ignore in their efforts to lower claims fraud, combat Canada’s fraud crisis, and manage risk.
From surging auto theft claims and inflated repairs to fake disability cases, online activity is increasingly used to support or invalidate claims — with courts now routinely accepting social media as legitimate evidence.
It’s a timely shift, given the scale of fraud Canada’s insurers face today. Claims fraud investigations rose 76% in 2024 - nearly two-thirds were tied to auto. Economic uncertainty, organized crime, and geopolitical instability are also fuelling a wave of inflated or opportunistic claims. In 2023 alone, auto theft cost Canadian insurers a record-breaking $1.5 billion, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.
“Yet many insurers are still overlooking one of the most powerful — and underutilized — tools in their fraud-fighting arsenal: social media screening,” says Michael Thompson, Chief Commercial Officer at ISB Global Services, a leading insurtech provider in Canada.
Advanced digital screening platforms now give insurers unprecedented visibility into the people and patterns behind today’s most pressing insurance fraud threats, turning online activity into defensible, court-ready insights, Thompson says.
With customizable flags and fast turnaround, next-generation screening solutions like ISB’s sophisticated new Social Media Screening offerings, are empowering insurers’ claims teams and Special Investigations Units (SIUs) to streamline processes, combat fraud and mitigate risk.
ISB’s solutions are designed to address ethical data handling and ensure authenticity and compliance with Canadian privacy laws, Thompson adds – a crucial step in leveraging social media to uncover fraud without crossing legal or responsible boundaries.
From Posts to Proof: Why Insurers Need Smarter Digital Screening Tools
Insurance fraud no longer leaves just a paper trail — it leaves a digital one. “Courts now routinely accept social media evidence cases – a major shift from 10 years ago,” says Thompson. “What was once inadmissible is today shaping real insurance fraud cases.”
Still, many insurers are relying on traditional investigative methods, that can miss key behavioural signals left online by claimants or organized crime rings. That’s where intelligent automation and deep forensic screening offerings like ISB’s Social Media Screening are shifting the paradigm.
Rather than requiring days of manual searching and piecemeal reports, ISB’s solutions combine advanced machine learning, AI keyword intelligence, and deep human analysis to surface the digital clues buried in social media and public web content — quickly, ethically, and at scale.
“The technology connects the dots in a matter of hours that would take investigators days or weeks to find — if they found them at all,” says Shane Thomas-Lovric, Director of Vendor and Contract Management at ISB.
Turning posts into proof that can hold up in court, the tool scans and analyses publicly available content from all major social media platforms, news articles, reposts, shares, mentions, and even videos to identify potential red flags.
More than just surfacing suspicious posts, it can identify patterns — revealing connections between individuals, behaviours, and events that manual methods might miss. It creates a consistent, scalable and tailored workflow for fraud teams, minimizing human error, reducing investigation time, and strengthening claims outcomes.
“The real value isn’t just in the posts — it’s in the patterns,” says Thomas-Lovric. “Our social media screening helps insurers connect digital dots faster, uncover fraudulent activity or networks, and make smarter decisions.”
At a time when insurers are increasingly under pressure to manage rising fraud with limited resources, modern tools like this aren’t just a nice-to-have. It’s strategic, and represents the future of data-driven, digitally enabled fraud detection.
A Solution for Every Fraud Scenario
One of the biggest strengths of a smart social media screening solution like ISB’s, is flexibility. It’s customizable for different investigative needs — from quick checks to deep, multi-profile fraud cases spanning suspicious activity across networks and businesses.
ISB’s platform offers tiered reports with intelligent screening insights across different scenarios.
Basic screening reports deliver fast, affordable insights. These provide a comprehensive scan of public activity across all major platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, flagging inappropriate or risky content (e.g., substance abuse, violent behaviour). Reports are customizable by keyword, industry or topic based on an insurers’ needs, and typically returned within 24 hours.
Investigative services reports are leveraged by SIUs for more complex, targeted fraud cases. These go deeper, offering enhanced analysis of behavioural patterns, linking specific individuals, or flagging connections across businesses or groups. Use cases include disability fraud, identity risk, and organized crime investigations. “These reports empower SIUs with more detailed and unique searches and deeper context, often tied to relevant cases and multi-profile investigations,” says Thomas-Lovric.
The third tier offers custom searches, which enable SIUs to tailor searches to their specific needs – a keyword-triggered, flag-based solution where machine learning and advanced AI capabilities meet expert human analysis. With input from claims teams or investigators, this offering can uncover hidden connections, unearth organized crime ties, expose staged accident rings, suspicious auto body repairs, or coordinated claim behaviours across multiple entities.
How Leading Insurers Are Seeing Results
Leading insurers are already seeing measurable outcomes — from faster claim resolutions and more defensible claim decisions, to combating organized crime, says Thompson.
Special Investigations Units (SIU)
For SIUs, custom social media screening reports can be used to uncover coordinated fraud activity.
In one case, an insurer flagged 80 suspicious claimants linked to a suspected auto theft ring — using keywords like “tow truck,” “collision,” and city names. “This helped uncover links between claimants, tow truck drivers, and auto body shops involved in inflated or staged claims,” Thompson says.
Disability & Claims Investigations
The tool is increasingly being used to validate injury or disability claims.
“This is where it’s helpful to find out whether someone’s posting photos of themselves kite-surfing on vacation, while claiming they’re unable to work due to injury,” says Thompson.
Social media timelines often reveal discrepancies between a claimant’s stated condition and their real-world activity, he adds, helping insurers challenge questionable claims early and accurately, with court-ready evidence.
Background Screening & Risk Profiling
Insurers can also use comprehensive social media screening for broker vetting, pre-employment screening, and new business due diligence in underwriting. Reports flag reputational and operational risks such as violent behaviour, substance abuse, extremism, conflicting affiliations, or criminal behaviour — helping insurers protect their brand and policyholders and mitigate risk. As a top contributor to employment in Canada, creating nearly 300,000 jobs, the P&C insurance industry is increasingly recommending the solution for hiring practices to HR teams and clients.
In addition, social media screening can be instrumental in mitigating risks like the recent rise in social media ghost broker scams, where fraudsters pose as legitimate insurance brokers online, leaving consumers with invalid coverage and significant financial risk.
“Ultimately, this tool protects insurance customers,” Thompson says. “Our social media screening is designed to help insurers fight fraud and mitigate the high cost of bogus claims, which helps lower premiums, reduces risk, and aids in Canada’s auto fraud and theft crisis - resulting in better insurance outcomes for everyone.”
The Future of Fraud Detection
“We live digitally these days — and people tend to post without knowing who can see it,” says Thomas-Lovric.
Whether it’s organized crime rings or individuals pushing the limits to increase their claim payouts, insurers need modern tools to outsmart modern fraud tactics.
“Social media screening provides a proactive, intelligent window into behaviour, networks, and intent — enabling insurers to detect red flags earlier and prevent fraud before a claim becomes a loss.”
For the industry, it’s a clear call to modernize investigative toolkits. Purpose-built solutions like ISB’s bring consistency, reduce manual workload, and help uncover the truth faster and more effectively, Thompson adds.
“As fraud surges in Canada, social media screening technology is essential to the frontline of modern insurance fraud detection,” he says. “For insurers who want to outpace fraud ethically, affordably, and defensibly, leveraging this solution isn’t just smart, it’s necessary.”
Learn more about ISB Global Services’ suite of background check and insurance solutions.
