Is cheating getting worse? Has there ever been anything but cheating? It's just been swept under the rug in the past. Next door neighbor had a pipe-burst in his main water line. Contractor showed up, gave him a reasonable bid. Did the work. Then told him that the city's pipes were at fault, it was a much bigger job than anticipated, he charged him 4x the quoted amount, and told him to see so-and-so down at City Hall, and to take a good friend of his--a lawyer--with him. Within weeks, the city settled with my neighbor for 3x the amount that he was charged. My neighbor called a friend of his at the state level, and now the Feds are involved.

This would have been a seamless scheme to bilk the city.