Those who spot exaggerated or false insurance claims can now call a hotline to alert the General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA). The hotline 1800-44-37283, or GI-FRAUD, will be operational from Friday. The hotline is open on weekdays from 9am to 5pm.

The GIA said in a statement that that the hotline is part of a campaign to "educate the public on this supposedly "victimless" crime and its repercussions". The drive will also use data analytics to track fraudulent and inflated claims and even push for changes to the law to combat this.

Insurers are also setting up their own special investigative units to detect and fend off fraud.

The general insurance industry suffered a staggering $140 million in losses from inflated and fraudulent motor insurance claims in 2012. Such losses continue to undermine insurers' financial position and ability to offer lower premiums and write profitable businesses.

GIA executive director Derek Teo said the cost of insurance fraud to insurers "is a cost to everyone because industry losses from fraud must be recouped".

"Insurance fraud, then, is everybody's concern because we all pay the price. We seek cooperation from members of the public to help us in preventing and combating this problem by alerting us of any potential cases of insurance fraud by calling the hotline," added Mr Teo.