Wings and iHeart Radio Team with New York Fraud Fighters in Innovative Partnership

On April 17, Laurence Juber and Denny Seiwell of Wings, the legendary rock band fronted by Paul McCartney, joined host Ken Dashow of iHeart Media's WAQX/Q104.3 for a special Backstage Pass virtual experience. The event, sponsored by the New York Alliance Against Insurance Fraud (NYAAIF), celebrated the 50th anniversary of Wings and gave attendees an opportunity to ask questions about McCartney and the band, share memories and interact directly with Juber and Seiwell. The event was promoted by iHeart Radio.

A portion of the proceeds went to National Independent Venue Association in an effort to aid struggling live entertainment venues hit hard by the pandemic. Since March 2020, thousands of independent venues across the US have remained closed in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Without federal intervention, as many as 90% of indie music venues could easily disappear.

"The New York Alliance Against Insurance Fraud is committed to supporting the community and helping New Yorkers understand the costs and consequences of insurance fraud," says Jim Potts, vice chair of NYAAIF. "We're coming up with innovative and creative ways to help our friends and neighbors who have fallen on hard times during the pandemic, while also emphasizing to the public that insurance fraud is the crime you pay for."

Insurance fraudsters are taking advantage of the conditions created by the pandemic. Con artists are stealing medical information; charging for fake vaccine appointments; and struggling property owners are increasingly tempted to destroy their homes, businesses and vehicles to collect insurance payments on assets they can no longer afford. Unfortunately, the costs of these activities are passed along to the public in the form of high insurance premiums.

Potts says that NYAAIF is focused on helping New Yorkers fight back and not be victims. That is why the Alliance co-sponsored iHeart's Backstage Pass as a way to contribute to the New York Community by supporting local music venues and also use the platform to communicate NYAAIF's anti-insurance fraud message.

"The public doesn't wake up every day thinking about the consequences of insurance fraud, but they're still paying for it. We teamed up with iHeart to leverage their platform to get our message out to New York residents. And this event has the added benefit of supporting our local music venues and celebrating Wings, one of the most memorable acts of our time," Potts says.

NYAAIF is an alliance of insurance companies doing business in New York. NYAAIF was created in 1999 to educate consumers about the cost of insurance fraud, and help consumers avoid becoming victims.