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A father and boy duo from Leicester scammed driver out of more than ₤ 60,000 by offering worthless car insurance coverage policies that left dozens uninsured.

charged unsuspecting clients up to ₤ 300 for invalid policies, which left drivers dealing with potential fines and automobile seizures, while secretly sharing thousands of pounds with his son Amer Ilyas.

In the fraud, fake insurance coverage intermediaries will declare they can get you vehicle or home insurance as a discount rate.

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

Alternatively, they take out a real policy with inaccurate info 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 supplying created employment letters to protect affordable 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 task of hiring victims through social media.

The dad and kid were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court for scams offenses

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

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

He falsely declared his customers had actually worked for the business for multiple years without crashes or insurance claims.

It was later on found that the address Eastern Catering was signed up to was the exact same utilized by Rauf to offer the fake policies.

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

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

Rauf was connected to 52 deceptive motor insurance policies across four various insurers.

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

Four telephone call had been made in between the bros before Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully tried to obstruct a CCTV video camera and ran away.

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

Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully tried to obstruct a CCTV cam and left

How to avoid succumbing to 'ghost brokers'

Karl Parr, from AXA UK, stated customers can protect themselves by following the below recommendations:

• Avoid buying insurance plan promoted through social networks platforms and instantaneous messaging apps.

• Be careful of insurance coverage brokers who market their services in personal community online forums or through ads in public locations like clubs, cafes or newsagents.

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

• Avoid insurance coverage brokers who utilize personal email addresses or mobile phone numbers to sell policies.

• If you're fretted about a policy you've bought or the details don't look right, contact the insurance service provider directly - do not utilize the information offered by the broker.

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

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Their scam was revealed when monetary investigators discovered that he e declared to have actually earned ₤ 27,366 from 2016 to 2020 regardless of filching more than ₤ 61,000 from the insurance scams alone.

When questioned by authorities, his boy informed officers he might not remember being given money 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 scams 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, likewise of Normanton Road, pleaded guilty to cash laundering offenses and was provided 16 weeks jail time, suspended for 12 months. He was also bought to finish 100 hours of unpaid work.

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

The current figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) show 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 expensive today than 2 years ago, with the average policy ₤ 478 in January to March 2023 - 23 per cent less than the first quarter of 2025.

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

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

Hacking methods consist of scammers getting control of an account and impersonating the owner to convince others to reveal authentication codes.

The scams, called 'ghost broking' are often advertised on social media, appealing low-cost quotes for a cars and truck insurance coverage.

Car insurance policies have actually dropped over the last year, however are still stay historically high

The cars and truck 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 buddy.

The most typical intentions for social media hacking were financial investment scams, ticket fraud or theft, Action Fraud stated.

Fraudsters can also get account information via phishing frauds or data breaches.

People frequently use the very same password across accounts, so when one is dripped a number of accounts are left vulnerable.

Action Fraud has launched a project, supported by Meta, to encourage individuals to take additional online defense by making it possible for two-step verification.

Victims frequently do not understand they have actually been scammed till they try to claim on their policy or if they take place to be stopped by authorities and asked to show their insurance files.

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

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

Young motorist Wayne Simpson bought a cheap car insurance coverage policy on social networks 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 automobile insurance plan on social media before understanding it was phony after he was not able 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 given them was not a number they would utilize,' he informed Sky News.

'That's when the dust settles, and you understand it's been a fraud.'

Mr Simpson said the insurance coverage documents looked so genuine that they managed to fool a law enforcement officer at the scene of the crash.

'She stated," Your vehicle's not appearing as guaranteed". Straight away I went to my glove box, pulled the insurance coverage files, revealed her the documents and she went through it and stated," That's totally great",' he said.