This is the moment a woman runs in front of a moving car and throws herself to the ground a metre away from its bonnet in an apparent cash for crash insurance scam.

The incident was filmed in the centre of the Romanian capital Bucharest on 25th April.

According to the news site Aleph News, the unnamed woman planned to stage an accident but did not know a CCTV camera was operating in the area, and a criminal investigation is now underway by the local authorities.

At the scene of the ‘accident’, the woman told bystanders that she was hit by a car and called the emergency services to attend to her.

In the footage, several cars are seen turning left onto a city street as the woman runs across from the other side.

Just as a silver car approaches, she apparently darts in front of it, prompting the driver to carry out an emergency stop in the road.

Despite apparently stopping over a metre away, the woman suddenly falls to the ground as if shot by a sniper and lies on the tarmac with her arms outstretched above her head as concerned onlookers walk over to help.

The local authorities have confirmed that they are investigating the woman for deliberately staging an accident.