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

Ilyas Rauf charged unwary customers up to ₤ 300 for invalid policies, which left chauffeurs dealing with potential fines and lorry seizures, while covertly sharing countless pounds with his boy Amer Ilyas.

In the rip-off, fake insurance coverage intermediaries will claim they can get you vehicle or home insurance as a discount rate.

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

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

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

Between September 2019 and June 2020, he shared more than ₤ 11,000 of his profits with his 28-year-old son, who was given the job of recruiting victims through social media.

The father and son were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court for scams offences

The National Crime Agency formerly shared a series of mocked-up Instagram ads providing '100% legit insurance ensured to beat any rate' to show motorists what to look out for

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

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

It was later found that the address Eastern Catering was registered to was the exact same used by Rauf to sell the fake policies.

Police found that his kid had actually likewise messaged 31 contacts about insurance coverage on his phone in between October 2015 to March 2021, often telling consumers that his dad would supply quotes for them the next day.

Amer Ilyas would then tell victims to visit the office or send pictures of bank cards for processing of payment.

Rauf was linked to 52 deceptive motor insurance coverage policies throughout 4 different insurance providers.

Ilyas Rauf's brother Ziaed was caught on CCTV removing 2 computer systems from the workplace while authorities raided his nephew's home.

Four telephone call had actually been made in between the brothers before Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully attempted to block a CCTV cam and fled.

Ziaed was captured on CCTV getting rid of 2 computers from the workplace while cops robbed his nephew's home.

Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully tried to block a CCTV camera and got away

How to avoid succumbing to 'ghost brokers'

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

• Avoid acquiring insurance coverage policies promoted through social networks platforms and immediate messaging apps.

• Be mindful of insurance brokers who market their services in private neighborhood online forums or through advertisements in public locations like bars, coffee shops or newsagents.

• Don't engage with insurance brokers who ask for payment in cash or through bank transfers. Reputable will use payment options by means of an online portal.

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

• If you're stressed over a policy you've purchased or the information do not look right, contact the insurance coverage company directly - do not use the details offered by the broker.

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

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Their fraud was discovered when monetary detectives discovered that he e claimed to have actually made ₤ 27,366 from 2016 to 2020 despite pocketing more than ₤ 61,000 from the insurance fraud alone.

When questioned by cops, his child informed officers he could not remember being offered cash by his father and claimed he did not understand what it was for.

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

Ilyas Rauf, 51, of Normanton Road, Highfields, Leicester, pleaded guilty to scams by false representation, breaching the Financial Services and Markets Act and transferring criminal residential or commercial property and was imprisoned for 21 months.

Amer Ilyas, 28, likewise of Normanton Road, pleaded guilty to money laundering offences and was provided 16 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. He was likewise bought to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.

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

The current figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) reveal the price of the typical cars and truck insurance policy in January to March 2025 was ₤ 589, a 6 per cent drop from the year before.

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

It follows a dramatic rise in social media and email hacking reports last year, 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 approaches include fraudsters acquiring control of an account and impersonating the owner to convince others to reveal authentication codes.

The scams, understood as 'ghost broking' are typically promoted on social media, appealing inexpensive quotes for an automobile insurance policy.

Car insurance plan have actually dropped over the last year, however are still remain traditionally high

The automobile insurance prices estimate that ARE too great to be true: Warning over surge in 'ghost brokers'

Many victims believe they are being messaged by a good friend.

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

Fraudsters can also gain account information by means of phishing scams or data breaches.

People typically use the same password across accounts, so when one is leaked numerous accounts are left vulnerable.

Action Fraud has actually introduced a project, supported by Meta, to motivate individuals to take extra online defense by allowing two-step confirmation.

Victims often don't understand they have been scammed till they try to declare on their policy or if they happen to be visited police and asked to reveal their insurance documents.

Karl Parr, Claims Technical Director, AXA UK, told MailOnline: 'Ghost brokers typically use premium costs far cheaper than clients can discover elsewhere.

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

Young chauffeur Wayne Simpson purchased a cheap vehicle insurance coverage on social networks before realising it was phony after he was unable to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of ₤ 500.

Young chauffeur Wayne Simpson purchased a cheap cars and truck insurance coverage on social networks before understanding it was phony after he was unable to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of ₤ 500

'We called Aviva and they informed me there wasn't a policy taken out in my name which the number we had provided was not a number they would utilize,' he told Sky News.

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

Mr Simpson stated the insurance documents looked so genuine that they managed to deceive a policeman at the scene of the crash.

'She stated," Your car's not appearing as insured". Quickly I went to my glove box, pulled the insurance coverage files, showed her the documents and she reviewed it and stated," That's totally fine",' he stated.
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