video surveillance
 

I was wondering if anyone here does any work in video surveillance. Work comp fraud, etc.

Used to, Bob. I once worked on a case (as an investigator with a video camera rather than a videographer) where we videotaped a guy mowing his lawn and carrying a 50 lb. bag of dog chow who complained he could hardly move due to a back injury. We won that case, obviously.

At that time, another investigator actually walked up to a guy he'd been watching who had an insurance claim for carpal tunnel syndrome...as the guy was setting up on a street corner with a boom box and a juggling act to get spare change (no joke). The guy hammed it up for the camera, doing all these intricate juggling maneuvers, then asked "You with a TV station?" He replied..."Nope. Your insurance company." The guy just dropped the balls and walked away...then dropped the claim.

The best I remember, though, didn't involve a camera. I was handling a case where a guy who had been rear-ended hired a lawyer of particularly nasty reputation and started demanding the stars. One day, after having talked to his attorney on the phone and hearing settlement demands in six figures...I walked into my gym...and guess who was bench pressing over 250 lbs. with ease? That case was dropped right away, too.