A dad and kid duo from Leicester scammed driver out of more than ₤ 60,000 by selling useless vehicle insurance coverage that left dozens uninsured.

Ilyas Rauf charged unsuspecting consumers up to ₤ 300 for void policies, which left chauffeurs dealing with potential fines and vehicle seizures, while covertly sharing countless pounds with his child Amer Ilyas.

In the fraud, bogus insurance middlemen will declare they can get you car or home insurance as a discount rate.

They may either hand over a phony policy or a genuine one, which they subsequently cancel to keep the refund for themselves.

Alternatively, they secure a real policy with incorrect information to bring the premium down - which would likely leave it void should you try to make a claim.

Rauf, 51, made ₤ 61,763 from August 2016 to January 2020 by offering created employment letters to protect affordable premiums for his victims.

Between September 2019 and June 2020, he shared more than ₤ 11,000 of his revenues with his 28-year-old son, who was offered the task of recruiting victims through social networks.

The daddy and kid were at Leicester Crown Court for fraud offences

The National Crime Agency previously shared a series of mocked-up Instagram ads providing '100% legit insurance coverage guaranteed to beat any cost' to reveal drivers what to watch out for

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

He incorrectly claimed his customers had actually worked for the company for numerous years without crashes or insurance claims.

It was later discovered that the address Eastern Catering was registered to was the very same used by Rauf to sell the phony policies.

Police discovered that his son had actually also messaged 31 contacts about insurance on his phone in between October 2015 to March 2021, often informing clients that his father would provide quotes for them the next day.

Amer Ilyas would then inform victims to go to the office or send out photos of bank cards for processing of payment.

Rauf was linked to 52 deceitful motor insurance plan across four various insurers.

Ilyas Rauf's brother Ziaed was caught on CCTV getting rid of 2 computers from the workplace while police raided his nephew's home.

Four call had actually been made in between the siblings before Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully attempted to obstruct a CCTV camera and ran away.

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

Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully tried to block a CCTV video camera and ran away

How to avoid falling victim to 'ghost brokers'

Karl Parr, from AXA UK, stated customers can secure themselves by following the below suggestions:

• Avoid acquiring insurance policies promoted through social media platforms and instantaneous messaging apps.

• Beware of insurance brokers who market their services in personal neighborhood online forums or through ads in public places like bars, cafes or newsagents.

• Don't engage with insurance brokers who request payment in cash or through bank transfers. Reputable brokers will use payment alternatives through an online portal.

• Avoid insurance brokers who use individual e-mail addresses or cellphone numbers to offer policies.

• If you're fretted about a policy you've purchased or the details don't look right, contact the insurance company straight - do not use the information provided by the broker.

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

Advertisement

Their rip-off was discovered when financial detectives discovered that he e declared to have earned ₤ 27,366 from 2016 to 2020 regardless of taking more than ₤ 61,000 from the insurance coverage fraud alone.

When questioned by authorities, his child informed officers he could not keep in mind being provided money by his daddy 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 moving criminal residential or commercial property and was imprisoned for 21 months.

Amer Ilyas, 28, also of Normanton Road, pleaded guilty to cash laundering offences and was offered 16 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to finish 100 hours of overdue work.

Ziaed Rauf, 47, of Thurnview Road, Evington, Leicester, was offered 18 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and was bought to finish 120 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice.

The latest figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) reveal the cost of the typical automobile insurance coverage in January to March 2025 was ₤ 589, a 6 per cent drop from the year before.

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

It follows a remarkable increase in social networks and email hacking reports last year, according to Action Fraud.

A total of 35,434 reports were made to the fraud and cyber criminal offense reporting service in 2024, compared to 22,530 in 2023.

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

The frauds, referred to as 'ghost broking' are typically marketed on social networks, promising inexpensive quotes for a cars and truck insurance coverage.

Car insurance coverage policies have dropped over the last year, but are still stay traditionally high

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

Many victims believe they are being messaged by a buddy.

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

Fraudsters can likewise get account details via phishing scams or data breaches.

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

Action Fraud has released a project, supported by Meta, to encourage individuals to take extra online security by allowing two-step verification.

Victims frequently do not understand they have actually been scammed until they attempt to declare on their policy or if they take place to be come by authorities and asked to show their insurance coverage files.

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

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

Young driver Wayne Simpson purchased an inexpensive automobile insurance plan on social media before understanding it was phony after he was unable to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of ₤ 500.

Young chauffeur Wayne Simpson bought an inexpensive vehicle insurance coverage on social media before understanding it was phony 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 secured in my name and that the number we had actually provided was not a number they would use,' he informed Sky News.

'That's when the dust settles, and you realise it's been a scam.'

Mr Simpson stated the insurance coverage files looked so genuine that they handled to deceive a police officer at the scene of the crash.

'She stated," Your vehicle's not appearing as insured". Immediately I went to my glove box, pulled the insurance documents, revealed her the documents and she checked out it and stated," That's totally great",' he stated.
reference.com