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A father and child duo from Leicester scammed motorist out of more than ₤ 60,000 by offering worthless automobile insurance coverage that left dozens uninsured.
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Ilyas Rauf charged unsuspecting consumers approximately ₤ 300 for invalid policies, which left drivers dealing with prospective fines and car seizures, while secretly sharing countless pounds with his son Amer Ilyas.

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

They may either turn over a fake policy or a real one, which they subsequently cancel to keep the refund for themselves.

Alternatively, they get a genuine policy with incorrect information 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 providing created work letters to secure 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 child, who was given the job of recruiting victims through social networks.

The dad and child were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court for fraud offences

The National Crime Agency formerly shared a series of mocked-up Instagram advertisements using '100% legitimate insurance coverage guaranteed to beat any rate' to reveal drivers what to watch out for

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

He falsely claimed his clients had worked for the company for several years without crashes or insurance claims.

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

Police discovered that his kid had actually also messaged 31 contacts about insurance on his phone between October 2015 to March 2021, often telling customers that his daddy would offer quotes for them the next day.

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

Rauf was linked to 52 fraudulent motor insurance plan throughout four various insurance providers.

Ilyas Rauf's bro Ziaed was captured on CCTV eliminating 2 computers from the office while cops robbed his nephew's home.

Four telephone call had been made between the siblings before Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully attempted to block a CCTV electronic camera and got away.

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

Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully attempted to obstruct a CCTV camera and fled

How to prevent succumbing to 'ghost brokers'

Karl Parr, from AXA UK, stated consumers can safeguard themselves by following the below suggestions:

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

• Be careful of insurance brokers who market their services in personal community online forums or through ads in public places like bars, coffee shops or newsagents.

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

• Avoid insurance coverage brokers who use individual email addresses or smart phone numbers to offer policies.

• If you're stressed over a policy you've acquired or the details don't look right, contact the insurance coverage provider straight - don't utilize the details supplied by the broker.

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

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

When questioned by authorities, his kid informed officers he could not keep in mind being offered money by his father 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 scams by incorrect representation, breaching the Financial Services and Markets Act and transferring criminal residential or commercial property and was imprisoned for 21 months.

Amer Ilyas, 28, also of Normanton Road, pleaded guilty to money laundering offenses and was offered 16 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. He was likewise purchased to finish 100 hours of unsettled work.

Ziaed Rauf, 47, of Thurnview Road, Evington, Leicester, was offered 18 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and was ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid 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 average vehicle insurance coverage in January to March 2025 was ₤ 589, a 6 percent drop from the year before.

However, more pricey today than two 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 last year, according to Action Fraud.

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

Hacking approaches include scammers getting control of an account and impersonating the owner to persuade others to reveal authentication codes.

The rip-offs, called 'ghost broking' are frequently marketed on social media, appealing cheap quotes for an automobile insurance coverage.

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

The automobile insurance coverage prices quote that ARE too good to be true: Warning over surge in 'ghost brokers'

Many victims think they are being messaged by a pal.

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

Fraudsters can likewise acquire account information by means of phishing rip-offs or information breaches.

People often utilize the very same password throughout accounts, so when one is leaked a number of accounts are left susceptible.

Action Fraud has actually released a campaign, supported by Meta, to encourage people to take extra online security by enabling two-step confirmation.

Victims frequently do not understand they have actually been scammed up until they attempt to claim on their policy or if they occur to be come by authorities and asked to reveal their insurance coverage documents.

Karl Parr, Claims Technical Director, AXA UK, told MailOnline: 'Ghost brokers normally use premium prices far cheaper than customers can discover elsewhere.

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

Young driver Wayne Simpson purchased a cheap car insurance plan on social networks before understanding it was fake after he was unable to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of ₤ 500.

Young driver Wayne Simpson purchased an inexpensive cars and truck insurance coverage on social networks before realising it was fake after he was not able to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of ₤ 500

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

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

Mr Simpson stated the insurance coverage documents looked so real that they handled to fool a police officer at the scene of the crash.

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