MONTREAL - It starts with a seemingly courteous gesture behind the wheel: An innocent driver signals to turn left, and a driver in an oncoming lane waves for him to go ahead - when another vehicle speeds up and crashes into the turning car.

Unbeknownst to the person just hit, the collision was staged in order to collect hefty insurance payouts under provincial no-fault insurance programs. The scammers first collect insurance for their car's replacement value then submit bogus injury claims at health clinics.

Ken Bowman, vice-president of RBC Insurance, said the growing trend of staged accidents involves buying vehicles, often luxury cars such as Mercedes, and having "seat sales", in which fraudsters "pay $1,000 for every person recruited to be in the car".