By Bryan Gilmer

The sales pitch at the party starts with seemingly innocent small talk. "Man, aren't these car insurance rates in Brooklyn brutal? How much are you paying?" the pitchman asks someone. The answer, usually, is $5,000-$6,000 per year.

But his followup line really grabs the listener's attention: "How'd you like to cut that to two thousand bucks this year, and a thousand bucks a year after that?"

He's a small-time hustler, probably from the neighborhood. "He might get 10 people to say yes. They give him the money. The next day, he'll run down to Pennsylvania, get 10 cars insured, titled and registered and bring back the tags," says Larry Milanesi, director of national investigations for One Beacon Insurance, and a board member of the New York Alliance Against Insurance Fraud. The huckster keeps $1,000 per customer. "A guy like that can make $10,000 in one night," Milanesi says.

And an unfortunate insurer now has 10 new high-risk, New York City customers rates as low-risk, rural Pennsylvania drivers who are paying far below their fair auto premiums.

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