AS Lloyd's of London warns of rising insurance claims because of the recession-induced increase in crime, City Spy contacts chums in the claims-handling world to find out the burglars' and blaggers' canniest scams. First off is the so-called Alton Towers Job. A gang of thieves arrives at a popular theme park's car park early in the morning as the families arrive in their people carriers. When the coast is clear, they break into as many cars as possible and nick all the sat navs. They then press the devices' Home buttons to locate the family address and spend the rest of the day happily burgling their houses, safe in the knowledge that the occupants will be on a faraway rollercoaster until the evening. Nice.

* ANOTHER good 'un will become particularly popular in the London commuter belt in the coming months, as winter draws in. Early on a frosty weekday morning, your cheeky crook hides in the bushes in roads where the drives are packed with Mercs and Beemers. From 7am to 8am, he watches for a besuited breadwinner to nip outside to turn on the engine to heat the car and defrost the windows. Smug in the knowledge that this foresight will pay dividends in the form of a snug, leather-cocooned morning commute, the exec heads back indoors to finish breakfast. Key in ignition, engine running. You know what comes next…

* THAT latter wheeze often leads to another crime — this time by the victim. You see, soon after the realisation that the car's been nicked, the next awful thing to dawn is the fact that his insurance policy doesn't cover him when the keys are in the car and it's left unattended. So he makes up a story about how the car was filched by a sophisticated hotwirer: “I just woke up this morning and it was gone!” he tells the insurer. And the police. Often this old porky is rumbled with the simple question from the claims department: “Would you mind sending us in your keys then, Sir?” He sends in his spare set, pretending they're his main ones. Trouble is, certain manufacturers stick a chip in these that acts like an aeroplane's black box, recording when they've last been used — usually never in the case of a spare. Our victim's attempts to pass them off as the main set result in awkward questions from the claims fraud department, and then the boys in blue.

Bank's quantitative spinning

PING! A top City economist gets in touch with City Spy: “I have been wondering why the Bank of England is holding its quantitative easing seminar for economists today when it is such a heavy day for UK economic data — namely revised GDP data for Q2, Bank of England money supply and lending data for August, CBI distributive trades survey for September.

“If I were the suspicious type, I would be tempted to think that the data is going to be a lot worse than expected and the Bank is trying to hide bad data by getting all of the economists away from their desks. Just a thought!”

Is Iraq next pit stop for F1?

GOLLY — could Formula One be headed for Iraq? The sport's boss Bernie Ecclestone is known for taking his high-octane races to countries prepared to pay the highest buck and on walking through Knightsbridge the other day he was accosted by a cigar-chomping dignitary wearing a lapel pin of the Iraqi flag. The fellow thrust his business card into Ecclestone's hand before saying: “I am one of the admirers of Formula One and we wish that one day you make it to Iraq.” Ecclestone's trademark deadpan expression remained unchanged as he continued on his way but the idea had clearly been logged…

* UNCANNY how Baroness Vadera's exit from her Downing St role coincided with her appearance (surely the first time she's been voluntarily high profile) in the BBC series The Love Of Money, which assigned her a crucial role in saving the UK/World from financial apocalypse and relished the fact that she talks more colourfully than most bankers or politicians. The instalment, in which she starred as convenor of secret talks with UK banks, went out on the day her new job was announced.

* LISTED firm London Town owns 241 pubs around the country … but only three in London.

* CAN anyone explain to City Spy why a £25 Marks & Spencer voucher, sold on eBay, went for £27?

* THAT Michael Moore, he's got a nerve. His new film is the anti-banker polemic Capitalism: A Love Story. It was made by Paramount Vantage in association with the Weinstein Company. Harvey and Bob's firm had a $490 million private placing earlier this year, when Goldman Sachs said: “We are very pleased to be a part of this exciting new venture and look forward to an ongoing relationship with the Weinstein Company.” So, where is Moore seen in the film in an armoured car shouting, “We're here to get the money back for the American people”? Only Goldman's New York headquarters.

* YOU might think too that Moore would have been more careful about the location of the movie's premiere. It took place in the Lincoln Center, which is heavily sponsored by Wall Street. The audience quaffed champagne and cocktails in the Morgan Stanley lobby, collected tickets from the Bank of New York box office, sat in the Citi balcony, and consulted the Credit Suisse information stand. The after-party was in a penthouse, with a Jacuzzi, $120,000 pool table, $60,000 home cinema system and luxury food and drink. Moore was in attendance. He might say it was all deliberate, poking fun. Hmmm. Sounds rather like capitalism, a love story.