LOS ANGELES – California has seen its share of bears breaking into cars. But bears caught on camera breaking into luxury cars alerted insurers that something was wrong.

In what is being called “Operation Bear Claw,” the California Department of Insurance said four Los Angeles residents were arrested Wednesday, accused of defrauding three insurance companies out of nearly $142,000 by claiming a bear had caused damage to vehicles.

The group is accused of providing insurance companies with video footage from the San Bernardino Mountains in January of a “bear” moving inside a Rolls-Royce and two Mercedes as part of claims, the department said. Photos provided by the insurance department show what appeared to be scratches on the seats and doors.

The company watching the Rolls-Royce video suspected it wasn’t a bear inside, but someone in a bear suit.

Detectives found two additional claims and with two different insurance companies for the four with the same date of loss and at the same location. A similar video of the “bear” inside Mercedes vehicles was provided.

It was not immediately known if the four arrested people have lawyers.

The department had a California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist review the three videos, who concluded it was “clearly a man in a bear suit,” the insurance department said.

After executing a search warrant, detectives found the bear suit in the suspects’ home, the department said.

Bears break into houses or foraging trash cans have become a problem in California — from Lake Tahoe in the Sierra to the foothill suburbs of Los Angeles, where some have been known to raid refrigerators and dive in backyards swimming pools and hot tubs.