Dating websites can offer many temptations, including the chance to take part on crash-for-cash claims fraud. Calling himself Mr Jester was a stylish touch.
Here’s the word;
A man who manipulated women he met on dating sites into participating in staged car crashes has been sentenced today at Bournemouth Crown Court to 20-months’ imprisonment.
Nathan Atkins, 46, of Redwood Drive, Ferndown, Dorset, described by investigators as “predatory in his approach,” orchestrated a series of deliberate collisions beginning in June 2020. He used multiple aliases including Philip Realon, Paul Jester, Paul Wilkes, and Tony Richards to conceal his identity and build trust with victims.
Atkins targeted women online, persuading them to follow scripted scenarios and take part in planned crashes at specific locations. He purchased no fewer than seven vehicles from car auctions to facilitate the fraud, using them in collisions designed to generate false insurance claims.
The investigation was supported by the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB), which identified a total of 16 fraudulent claims linked to Atkins. The earliest dated back to 2020, involving the alias Philip Realon and Atkins’ then-partner. That claim resulted in a payout of £1,831.50. Private investigators, acting on behalf of the insurer, discovered that no one could verify the existence of Philip Realon – raising red flags that ultimately led to the investigation unfolding.
Detective Constable Carley Parodi, from the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), said:
“This was a calculated and deeply manipulative scheme. Atkins preyed on vulnerable women, using them as pawns in staged collisions that could have ended in tragedy. It’s nothing short of a miracle that no one was seriously injured – or worse, killed.
“We urge anyone who thinks they’ve been targeted in a similar way to come forward and make a report to Action Fraud, the national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime. Nathan Atkins is a dangerous individual, and we hope he now understands the gravity of his actions.”
Nicola Smith, Intelligence & Investigations Manager, Insurance Fraud Bureau, said:
“We are appalled by Atkins’ actions. By exploiting vulnerable women he met on dating sites, he encouraged them to take part in dangerous crash for cash scams; implicating them in fraud and putting innocent people in harms way. We urge anyone using dating sites to look out for signs of this lesser-known fraud tactic, and to report any concerns.
We’re pleased to have supported IFED in this investigation to help ensure Atkins faced the consequences of his selfish actions. We hope this case warns other potential insurance scammers against such reckless activity.”
Over the following 18-months, the number of staged collisions increased. Mobile phone data later confirmed that the women named in the investigation were saved contacts in Atkins’ device, with message exchanges indicating personal relationships – far beyond what would be expected between two strangers involved in a road traffic incident.
In one particularly disturbing case, Atkins arranged for a car to collide with a woman who was seven-months pregnant.
The fraud came to light when officers noticed a pattern: both the policyholder and third-party vehicles involved in multiple incidents were linked to the same insurance policy, where Atkins appeared as one of the named holders.
None of the women involved profited from the scheme. They received police cautions after admitting their roles.
Atkins was interviewed by officers from IFED in July 2022, where he answered “no comment” to all questions and refused to speak about any of the key incidents.
Following a court hearing in July 2025, Atkins pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud by false representation between September 2020 and October 2022. An application has also been submitted for a compensation order of £6,000.
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