As hundreds of car accidents occur every day in California, scammers are trying to take advantage of drivers who are faced with a stressful situation following a collision.
For Angelina, a driver in Southern California, it was a close call. When she became a victim of a multi-vehicle, hit-and-run collision, as many as three unsolicited tow trucks showed up, insisting that they tow her car.
It first started with a man who pulled over, claiming to have seen the crash.
“The guy was like, ‘I saw the car. I wanted to get your information, so I can be a witness,’” Angelina, who declined to give her last name, described.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
The driver said, within minutes, people began calling the contact number she provided, claiming to be a representative from a roadside assistance program. The car Angelina was driving was not under any roadside assistance program.
“(The caller) said, ‘We are sending an emergency tow. We’ll take it to an insurance-approved body shop,’” Angelina recalled, saying when she asked where the body shop would be located, the person could not give her an answer.
Eventually when a California Highway Patrol officer arrived at the crash site, one of the two drivers rushed off as the officer asked for license and insurance information, Angelina said.
She also said the first tow truck, whose driver insisted on taking her car, didn’t have truck insurance, according to the CHP.
“This is a tow scam,” the officer told her. “If you had let them take your car right now, you most likely wouldn’t have it anymore. It would end up in a junkyard or they would hold it for ransom.”
NBC4’s I-Team has investigated predatory towing practices where tow trucks find out about accidents, often by listening to police scanners, show up, and claim to have been dispatched by auto insurers then pressure people into allowing their cars to be towed.
Gladys, a scam victim that the I-Team spoke with in 2019, said a tow company took her car to a body shop that was 20 miles away without working with her insurance. That cost her nearly $1,000.
And the I-Team learned body shops where the cars are towed are also often in on the scam, charging drivers outrageous, even illegal fees to get their cars back.
The CHP warned that officers will always come if called to a crash on a highway. They will also link drivers to reputable tow services who will have the driver’s information when they arrive.
"If you're involved in a crash out of nowhere, there's a tow truck sitting behind you. And they're offering to get you off the freeway, they want to move fast, they want to do things before anything happens, they think they could do it cheaper than anyone else. That's possibly one of those scab toes, so make sure you beware," the CHP said.
