Link to articleAn excerpt:
----
Neither the state nor federal governments can say how many hate crimes turn out to be bogus, though the insurance industry keeps a watchful eye. James Quiggle of the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud said that hate-crime hoaxes aimed at collecting insurance have risen since the mid-1990s but still
number only about two dozen a year.
Last fall, the husband of a mixed-race couple in Idaho confessed to trying to burn down their house for insurance. Detectives found a cross of sticks draped with a white nightgown in the front yard and a racial insult painted on a shed.
"Swindlers are calculating that fake hate is such a vicious and cold crime that investigators would never believe that anyone would exploit racial tensions for insurance money," said Quiggle. "They're hiding behind the shield of disbelief."
Hoaxes aren't always about money. In November, a Northwestern University student admitted lying about being the victim of anti-Latino graffiti and a knife attack, saying he wanted to call attention to his anti-hate campaign.
----
'Only' two dozen a year?! (and those are only the ones 'aimed at collecting insurance ')