A dad and boy duo from Leicester scammed driver out of more than ₤ 60,000 by offering useless cars and truck insurance plan that left dozens uninsured.
Ilyas Rauf charged unwary clients as much as ₤ 300 for void policies, which left chauffeurs dealing with possible fines and vehicle seizures, while covertly sharing countless pounds with his kid Amer Ilyas.
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In the scam, phony insurance middlemen will claim they can get you vehicle or home insurance coverage as a discount.
They may either hand over a phony policy or a genuine one, which they consequently cancel to keep the refund for themselves.
Alternatively, they take out a genuine policy with inaccurate details to bring the premium down - which would likely leave it void should you attempt to make a claim.
Rauf, 51, made ₤ 61,763 from August 2016 to January 2020 by offering created work letters to protect discounted premiums for his victims.
Between September 2019 and June 2020, he shared more than ₤ 11,000 of his earnings with his 28-year-old child, who was offered the job of recruiting victims through social media.
The daddy and child were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court for scams offences
The National Crime Agency formerly shared a series of mocked-up Instagram ads providing '100% legitimate insurance ensured to beat any cost' to show chauffeurs what to keep an eye out for
An examination found he utilized letters from a business called Eastern Catering to fraudulently get no claims discounts.
He falsely claimed his clients had worked for the business for several years without crashes or insurance claims.
It was later on discovered that the address Eastern Catering was signed up to was the same used by Rauf to sell the fake policies.
Police discovered that his child had likewise messaged 31 contacts about insurance coverage on his phone in between October 2015 to March 2021, typically informing customers that his father would supply quotes for them the next day.
Amer Ilyas would then tell victims to check out the workplace or send out images of bank cards for processing of payment.
Rauf was connected to 52 deceitful motor insurance policies throughout 4 different insurance companies.
Ilyas Rauf's bro Ziaed was caught on CCTV getting rid of two computers from the office while cops raided his nephew's home.
Four call had been made in between the siblings before Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully tried to block a CCTV electronic camera and fled.
Ziaed was caught on CCTV eliminating two computers from the office while cops robbed his nephew's home.
Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully tried to obstruct a CCTV camera and left
How to prevent coming down with 'ghost brokers'
Karl Parr, from AXA UK, stated consumers can protect themselves by following the below advice:
• Stay away from buying insurance plan promoted through social networks platforms and immediate messaging apps.
• Be careful of insurance coverage brokers who market their services in private community online forums or through advertisements in public places like pubs, coffee shops or newsagents.
• Don't engage with insurance coverage brokers who ask for payment in cash or through bank transfers. Reputable brokers will offer payment alternatives through an online website.
• Avoid insurance coverage brokers who utilize personal email addresses or mobile phone numbers to sell policies.
• If you're fretted about a policy you have actually acquired or the information don't look right, call the insurance coverage supplier directly - don't use the information supplied by the broker.
• To guarantee you're dealing with an authorised insurance coverage broker, examine the Financial Conduct Authority's site or the British Insurance Brokers' Association websit.
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Their fraud was uncovered when monetary investigators found that he e declared to have actually earned ₤ 27,366 from 2016 to 2020 regardless of pocketing more than ₤ 61,000 from the insurance coverage fraud alone.
When questioned by cops, his child told officers he could not keep in mind being given cash by his dad and claimed he did not understand what it was for.
The three guys appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Friday, June 6.
Ilyas Rauf, 51, of Normanton Road, Highfields, Leicester, pleaded guilty to fraud by incorrect representation, breaching the Financial Services and Markets Act and transferring criminal residential or commercial property and was jailed for 21 months.
Amer Ilyas, 28, likewise of Normanton Road, pleaded guilty to money laundering offenses and was provided 16 weeks jail time, suspended for 12 months. He was also bought to complete 100 hours of unsettled work.
Ziaed Rauf, 47, of Thurnview Road, Evington, Leicester, was given 18 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and was ordered to complete 120 hours of overdue work after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice.
The most recent figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) reveal the rate of the typical automobile insurance coverage in January to March 2025 was ₤ 589, a 6 percent drop from the year before.
However, premiums stay more expensive today than two years earlier, with the typical policy ₤ 478 in January to March 2023 - 23 percent less than the first quarter of 2025.
It follows a remarkable rise in social media and email hacking reports in 2015, according to Action Fraud.
An overall of 35,434 reports were made to the scams and cyber criminal offense reporting service in 2024, compared to 22,530 in 2023.
Hacking approaches include scammers acquiring control of an account and impersonating the owner to encourage others to expose authentication codes.
The frauds, understood as 'ghost broking' are typically advertised on social networks, appealing low-cost quotes for an automobile insurance plan.
Car insurance coverage policies have actually dropped over the in 2015, however are still stay historically high
The cars and truck insurance prices quote that ARE too great to be true: Warning over surge in 'ghost brokers'
Many victims believe they are being messaged by a buddy.
The most common motives for social networks hacking were financial investment fraud, ticket fraud or theft, Action Fraud stated.
Fraudsters can likewise get account information by means of phishing scams or data breaches.
People often use the very same password across accounts, so when one is leaked numerous accounts are left susceptible.
Action Fraud has actually launched a campaign, supported by Meta, to motivate individuals to take additional online security by allowing two-step verification.
Victims often don't understand they have actually been scammed up until they attempt to claim on their policy or if they occur to be visited authorities and asked to reveal their insurance coverage documents.
Karl Parr, Claims Technical Director, AXA UK, informed MailOnline: 'Ghost brokers usually offer premium costs far more affordable than consumers can find in other places.
'Remember, if something sounds too good to be real, it nearly certainly is.'
Young chauffeur Wayne Simpson bought a car insurance coverage on social networks before understanding it was fake after he was unable to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of ₤ 500.
Young chauffeur Wayne Simpson purchased a low-cost car insurance coverage on social networks before realising it was fake after he was unable to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of ₤ 500
'We called up Aviva and they told me there wasn't a policy gotten in my name which the number we had actually provided them was not a number they would utilize,' he informed Sky News.
'That's when the dust settles, and you realise it's been a fraud.'
Mr Simpson said the insurance documents looked so genuine that they handled to deceive a policeman at the scene of the crash.
'She said," Your automobile's not popping up as insured". Quickly I went to my glove box, pulled the insurance coverage files, showed her the files and she checked out it and said," That's absolutely great",' he said.
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Father-son Duo 'ghost Brokers' Scammed Drivers Out Of ₤ 60k.
Adrienne Hargett edited this page 2025-06-16 13:49:13 +08:00