Direct General on Friday closed — temporarily, it hopes — a number of its Florida stores after seeing a spike in losses it thinks are being caused by fraud.

Direct General spokeswoman Courtney Ryder said the inquiry has been under way "for quite some time," but the company opted for a rather abrupt closure of its stores after it became concerned that fraud was widespread and customers were being affected.

"Many innocent people are being impacted by fraudulent behavior and the wrongs being committed here," the company said in a statement. "We don't want our customers to be among them."