A daddy and kid duo from Leicester scammed motorist out of more than ₤ 60,000 by offering worthless automobile insurance policies that left lots uninsured.
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Ilyas Rauf charged unwary clients up to ₤ 300 for invalid policies, which left motorists dealing with possible fines and automobile seizures, while covertly sharing thousands of pounds with his kid Amer Ilyas.

In the scam, phony insurance coverage intermediaries will claim they can get you car or home insurance coverage as a discount.

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

Alternatively, they take out a real policy with incorrect info to bring the premium down - which would likely leave it void should you attempt to make a claim.

Rauf, 51, made ₤ 61,763 from August 2016 to January 2020 by offering created employment letters to secure discounted 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 provided the task of hiring victims through social networks.

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

The National Crime Agency formerly shared a series of mocked-up Instagram ads providing '100% legitimate insurance guaranteed to beat any price' to reveal motorists what to watch out for

An examination discovered he used letters from a business called Eastern Catering to fraudulently obtain no claims discounts.

He wrongly declared his customers had actually worked for the company for several years without crashes or insurance coverage claims.

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

Police found that his child had likewise messaged 31 contacts about insurance coverage on his phone in between October 2015 to March 2021, typically informing clients that his dad would offer quotes for them the next day.

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

Rauf was connected to 52 fraudulent motor insurance coverage policies across 4 different insurance companies.

Ilyas Rauf's sibling Ziaed was captured on CCTV eliminating 2 computers from the workplace while police raided his nephew's home.

Four telephone call had been made 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 raided his nephew's home.

Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully tried to obstruct a CCTV electronic camera and fled

How to avoid succumbing to 'ghost brokers'

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

• Avoid purchasing insurance plan promoted through social media platforms and immediate messaging apps.

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

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

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

• If you're fretted about a policy you have actually acquired or the information do not look right, get in touch with the insurance service provider directly - do not utilize the information offered by the broker.

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

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Their fraud was revealed when financial investigators discovered that he e declared to have actually earned ₤ 27,366 from 2016 to 2020 in spite of swiping more than ₤ 61,000 from the insurance coverage scams alone.

When questioned by police, his kid informed officers he might not keep in mind being provided money by his dad and claimed 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 moving criminal residential or commercial property and was jailed for 21 months.

Amer Ilyas, 28, likewise of Normanton Road, pleaded guilty to cash laundering offenses and was given 16 weeks jail time, suspended for 12 months. He was likewise ordered to finish 100 hours of unsettled work.

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

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

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

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

An overall of 35,434 reports were made to the scams and cyber criminal activity reporting service in 2024, compared to 22,530 in 2023.

Hacking methods include fraudsters gaining control of an account and impersonating the owner to persuade others to reveal authentication codes.

The frauds, referred to as 'ghost broking' are frequently promoted on social networks, promising cheap quotes for a vehicle insurance coverage.

Car insurance coverage have actually dropped over the in 2015, but are still remain traditionally high

The cars and truck insurance coverage quotes that ARE too great to be true: Warning over rise in 'ghost brokers'

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

The most common intentions for social networks hacking were investment scams, ticket fraud or theft, Action Fraud stated.

Fraudsters can likewise acquire account information through phishing scams or data breaches.

People often utilize the very same password across accounts, so when one is leaked numerous accounts are left susceptible.

Action Fraud has released a campaign, supported by Meta, to motivate individuals to take extra online protection by allowing two-step verification.

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 cops and asked to reveal their insurance files.

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

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

Young motorist Wayne Simpson bought a low-cost cars and truck insurance coverage 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.

Young chauffeur Wayne Simpson purchased an inexpensive car on social media before realising it was fake after he was unable to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of ₤ 500

'We called Aviva and they told me there wasn't a policy secured 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 fraud.'
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Mr Simpson said the insurance coverage documents looked so real that they managed to deceive an authorities officer at the scene of the crash.

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