A dad and child duo from Leicester scammed driver out of more than ₤ 60,000 by offering useless cars and truck insurance coverage that left lots uninsured.

Ilyas Rauf charged unsuspecting consumers approximately ₤ 300 for void policies, which left motorists dealing with potential fines and lorry seizures, while secretly sharing countless pounds with his kid Amer Ilyas.

In the scam, bogus insurance coverage middlemen will claim they can get you vehicle or home insurance coverage as a discount.

They may either hand over a fake policy or an authentic one, which they consequently cancel to keep the refund on their own.

Alternatively, they get a genuine policy with inaccurate information to bring the premium down - which would likely leave it void ought to you try to make a claim.

Rauf, 51, made ₤ 61,763 from August 2016 to January 2020 by providing forged work letters to secure reduced premiums for his victims.

Between September 2019 and June 2020, he shared more than ₤ 11,000 of his earnings with his 28-year-old boy, who was provided the task of hiring victims through social networks.

The father and child were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court for fraud offenses

The National Crime Agency previously shared a series of mocked-up Instagram advertisements using '100% legitimate insurance coverage guaranteed to beat any rate' to reveal motorists what to keep an eye out for

An examination found he used letters from a business called Eastern Catering to fraudulently acquire no claims discount rates.

He wrongly claimed his customers had worked for the business for multiple years without crashes or insurance coverage claims.

It was later on found that the address Eastern Catering was registered to was the very same utilized by Rauf to offer the fake policies.

Police found that his boy had also 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 inform victims to go to the office or send images of bank cards for processing of payment.

Rauf was connected to 52 deceptive motor insurance coverage across four different insurance providers.

Ilyas Rauf's bro Ziaed was captured on CCTV eliminating two computers from the office while cops raided his nephew's home.

Four phone calls had been made between the bros before Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully tried to block a CCTV electronic camera and got away.

Ziaed was caught on CCTV removing 2 computer systems from the office while cops raided his nephew's home.

Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully attempted to obstruct a CCTV cam and got away

How to avoid coming down with 'ghost brokers'

Karl Parr, from AXA UK, said clients can protect themselves by following the below guidance:

• Stay away from acquiring insurance coverage promoted through social networks platforms and instant messaging apps.

• Be cautious of insurance brokers who market their services in personal community forums or through ads in public places like pubs, cafes or newsagents.

• Don't engage with insurance coverage brokers who request payment in money or through bank transfers. Reputable brokers will offer payment options via an online website.

• Avoid insurance coverage brokers who utilize personal e-mail addresses or smart phone numbers to offer policies.

• If you're fretted about a policy you've purchased or the information do not look right, contact the insurance coverage provider straight - do not utilize the information offered by the broker.

• To ensure you're dealing with an authorised insurance broker, examine the Financial Conduct Authority's site or the British Insurance Brokers' Association websit.

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Their scam was uncovered when monetary private investigators discovered that he e claimed to have earned ₤ 27,366 from 2016 to 2020 regardless of pocketing more than ₤ 61,000 from the insurance coverage fraud alone.

When questioned by police, his kid told officers he might not keep in mind being given cash by his daddy and declared he did not understand what it was for.

The three men appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Friday, June 6.

Ilyas Rauf, 51, of Normanton Road, Highfields, Leicester, pleaded guilty to fraud by false 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 cash laundering and was offered 16 weeks jail time, suspended for 12 months. He was likewise purchased to complete 100 hours of overdue work.

Ziaed Rauf, 47, of Thurnview Road, Evington, Leicester, was offered 18 weeks jail time, suspended for 12 months, and was purchased to complete 120 hours of unsettled work after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice.

The latest figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) show the rate of the average car insurance coverage in January to March 2025 was ₤ 589, a 6 per cent drop from the year before.

However, premiums stay more costly today than 2 years ago, with the typical policy ₤ 478 in January to March 2023 - 23 per cent less than the first quarter of 2025.

It follows a significant rise in social media and email hacking reports in 2015, according to Action Fraud.

A total of 35,434 reports were made to the scams and cyber crime reporting service in 2024, compared with 22,530 in 2023.

Hacking methods consist of fraudsters acquiring control of an account and impersonating the owner to convince others to expose authentication codes.

The scams, called 'ghost broking' are typically promoted on social media, appealing low-cost quotes for a car insurance coverage.

Car insurance policies have dropped over the in 2015, but are still stay traditionally high

The vehicle insurance estimates that ARE too great to be real: Warning over rise in 'ghost brokers'

Many victims think they are being messaged by a friend.

The most typical motives for social networks hacking were investment scams, ticket scams or theft, Action Fraud stated.

Fraudsters can also get account information by means of phishing rip-offs or data breaches.

People typically use the same password throughout accounts, so when one is dripped a number of accounts are left susceptible.

Action Fraud has actually released a project, supported by Meta, to encourage people to take extra online protection by making it possible for two-step confirmation.

Victims frequently don't realise they have been scammed up until they attempt to declare on their policy or if they occur to be visited police and asked to show their insurance coverage documents.

Karl Parr, Claims Technical Director, AXA UK, told MailOnline: 'Ghost brokers generally provide premium rates far less expensive than consumers can find in other places.

'Remember, if something sounds too excellent to be real, it probably is.'

Young driver Wayne Simpson bought a low-cost cars and truck insurance coverage on social networks before understanding it was fake after he was not able to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of ₤ 500.

Young driver Wayne Simpson bought an inexpensive car insurance policy 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 phoned 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.'
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Mr Simpson stated the insurance documents looked so genuine that they managed to trick a police officer at the scene of the crash.

'She said," Your vehicle's not turning up as guaranteed". Straight away I went to my glove box, pulled the insurance files, showed her the documents and she checked out through it and stated," That's completely fine",' he stated.