Home / World / Europe News / Father-son duo ‘ghost agents’ scammed drivers out of greater than £60,000 through promoting nugatory automotive insurance coverage: How to stay your self protected
Father-son duo ‘ghost agents’ scammed drivers out of greater than £60,000 through promoting nugatory automotive insurance coverage: How to stay your self protected

Father-son duo ‘ghost agents’ scammed drivers out of greater than £60,000 through promoting nugatory automotive insurance coverage: How to stay your self protected

A father and son duo from Leicester scammed drivers out of greater than £60,000 through promoting nugatory automotive insurance coverage insurance policies that left dozens of drivers uninsured.

Ilyas Rauf charged unsuspecting shoppers as much as £300 for invalid insurance policies, which left drivers going through doable fines and automobile seizures, whilst secretly sharing hundreds of kilos along with his son Amer Ilyas.

The scams, referred to as ‘ghost broking’ are frequently marketed on social media, promising affordable quotes for a automotive insurance coverage.

In the rip-off, bogus insurance coverage middlemen will declare they are able to get you automotive or house insurance coverage as a bargain.

They would possibly both surrender a pretend coverage or a real one, which they due to this fact cancel to stay the refund for themselves.

Alternatively, they take out an actual coverage with unsuitable data to deliver the top class down – which might most probably go away it void will have to you attempt to make a declare.

Rauf, 51, made £61,763 from August 2016 to January 2020 through offering solid employment letters to safe discounted premiums for his sufferers.

Between September 2019 and June 2020, he shared greater than £11,000 of his earnings along with his 28-year-old son, who used to be given the activity of recruiting sufferers thru social media.

The father and son have been sentenced at Leicester Crown Court for fraud offences

The National Crime Agency previously shared a series of mocked-up Instagram ads offering '100% legit insurance guaranteed to beat any price' to show drivers what to look out for

The National Crime Agency up to now shared a chain of mocked-up Instagram commercials providing ‘100% reliable insurance coverage assured to overcome any worth’ to turn drivers what to seem out for

An investigation discovered he used letters from an organization known as Eastern Catering to fraudulently download no claims reductions.

He falsely claimed his purchasers had labored for the corporate for a couple of years with out crashes or insurance coverage claims.

It used to be later came upon that the cope with Eastern Catering used to be registered to used to be the similar utilized by Rauf to promote the faux insurance policies.

Police discovered that his son had additionally messaged 31 contacts about insurance coverage on his telephone between October 2015 to March 2021, frequently telling shoppers that his father would supply quotes for them the next day to come.

Amer Ilyas would then inform sufferers to consult with the place of job or ship pictures of credit cards for processing of cost.

Rauf used to be connected to 52 fraudulent motor insurance coverage insurance policies throughout 4 other insurers. 

Ilyas Rauf’s brother Ziaed used to be stuck on CCTV doing away with two computer systems from the place of job whilst police raided his nephew’s house.

Four telephone calls have been made between the brothers prior to Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully attempted to dam a CCTV digital camera and fled.

Ziaed was caught on CCTV removing two computers from the office while police raided his nephew's home.

Ziaed used to be stuck on CCTV doing away with two computer systems from the place of job whilst police raided his nephew’s house.

Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully tried to block a CCTV camera and fled

Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully attempted to dam a CCTV digital camera and fled

How to steer clear of falling sufferer to ‘ghost agents’

Karl Parr, from AXA UK, mentioned shoppers can give protection to themselves through following the under recommendation:

• Steer transparent of buying insurance coverage insurance policies promoted thru social media platforms and fast messaging apps.

• Be wary of insurance coverage agents who marketplace their products and services in personal neighborhood boards or thru commercials in public puts like pubs, cafes or newsagents.

• Don’t interact with insurance coverage agents who request cost in money or thru financial institution transfers. Reputable agents will be offering cost choices by the use of a web-based portal.

• Avoid insurance coverage agents who use non-public electronic mail addresses or cell phone numbers to promote insurance policies.

• If you are frightened a couple of coverage you may have bought or the main points do not glance proper, touch the insurance coverage supplier immediately – do not use the main points supplied through the dealer.

• To be sure to’re coping with an permitted insurance coverage dealer, test the Financial Conduct Authority’s web site or the British Insurance Brokers’ Association websit.

Their rip-off used to be exposed when monetary investigators came upon that he e claimed to have earned £27,366 from 2016 to 2020 regardless of pocketing greater than £61,000 from the insurance coverage fraud on my own.

When wondered through police, his son informed officials he may now not keep in mind being given cash through his father and claimed he didn’t know what it used to be for.

The 3 males seemed at Leicester Crown Court on Friday, June 6.

Ilyas Rauf, 51, of Normanton Road, Highfields, Leicester, pleaded accountable to fraud through false illustration, breaching the Financial Services and Markets Act and moving prison assets and used to be jailed for 21 months.

Amer Ilyas, 28, additionally of Normanton Road, pleaded accountable to cash laundering offences and used to be given 16 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. He used to be additionally ordered to finish 100 hours of unpaid paintings.

Ziaed Rauf, 47, of Thurnview Road, Evington, Leicester, used to be given 18 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and used to be ordered to finish 120 hours of unpaid paintings after pleading accountable to perverting the process justice.

The newest figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) display the cost of the typical automotive insurance coverage in January to March 2025 used to be £589, a 6 in keeping with cent drop from the yr prior to. 

However, premiums stay dearer as of late than two years in the past, with the typical coverage £478 in January to March 2023 – 23 in keeping with cent not up to the primary quarter of 2025.   

It follows a dramatic upward push in social media and electronic mail hacking studies remaining yr, in step with Action Fraud.

A complete of 35,434 studies have been made to the fraud and cyber crime reporting carrier in 2024, when put next with 22,530 in 2023.

Hacking strategies come with fraudsters gaining keep watch over of an account and impersonating the landlord to persuade others to expose authentication codes.

The scams, known as 'ghost broking' are often advertised on social media, promising cheap quotes for a car insurance policy.

The scams, referred to as ‘ghost broking’ are frequently marketed on social media, promising affordable quotes for a automotive insurance coverage.

Car insurance policies have dropped over the last year, but are still remain historically high

Car insurance coverage insurance policies have dropped over the past yr, however are nonetheless stay traditionally prime 

Many sufferers imagine they’re being messaged through a pal.

The maximum commonplace motives for social media hacking have been funding fraud, price tag fraud or robbery, Action Fraud mentioned.

Fraudsters too can acquire account main points by the use of phishing scams or knowledge breaches.

People frequently use the similar password throughout accounts, so when one is leaked a number of accounts are left prone.

Action Fraud has introduced a marketing campaign, supported through Meta, to inspire other folks to take additional on-line coverage through enabling two-step verification.

Victims frequently do not realise they have got been scammed till they are attempting to assert on their coverage or in the event that they occur to be stopped through police and requested to turn their insurance coverage paperwork.

Karl Parr, Claims Technical Director, AXA UK, informed MailOnline: ‘Ghost agents usually be offering top class costs a long way inexpensive than shoppers can to find somewhere else.

‘Remember, if one thing sounds too just right to be true, it nearly surely is.’

Young driving force Wayne Simpson purchased an affordable automotive insurance coverage on social media prior to realising it used to be faux after he used to be not able to assert following a crash, touchdown him with a lack of £500. 

Young driver Wayne Simpson bought a cheap car insurance policy on social media before realising it was fake after he was unable to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of £500

Young driving force Wayne Simpson purchased an affordable automotive insurance coverage on social media prior to realising it used to be faux after he used to be not able to assert following a crash, touchdown him with a lack of £500

‘We known as up Aviva and so they informed me there wasn’t a coverage taken out in my title and that the quantity we had given them used to be now not a bunch they’d use,’ he informed Sky News

‘That’s when the mud settles, and also you realise it is been a rip-off.’

Mr Simpson mentioned the insurance coverage paperwork regarded so actual that they controlled to idiot a police officer on the scene of the crash. 

‘She mentioned, ”Your automotive’s now not shooting up as insured”. Straight away I went to my glove field, pulled the insurance coverage paperwork, confirmed her the paperwork and she or he learn thru it and mentioned, ”That’s completely high-quality”,’ he mentioned. 


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