A father and son duo from Leicester scammed driver out of more than ₤ 60,000 by offering useless automobile insurance coverage that left dozens uninsured.

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

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

They might either hand over a fake policy or a genuine one, which they consequently cancel to keep the refund on their own.

Alternatively, they get a genuine policy with incorrect information 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 supplying created employment letters to secure 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 boy, who was offered the job of recruiting victims through social networks.

The daddy and son were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court for fraud offences

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

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

He wrongly claimed his clients had actually worked for the business for several years without crashes or insurance coverage claims.

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

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

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

Rauf was connected to 52 fraudulent motor insurance coverage policies across four different insurance providers.

Ilyas Rauf's brother Ziaed was caught on CCTV getting rid of two computer systems from the office while police raided his nephew's home.

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

Ziaed was caught on CCTV eliminating 2 computer systems from the office while authorities robbed his nephew's home.

Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully attempted to obstruct a CCTV electronic camera and ran away

How to avoid succumbing to 'ghost brokers'

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

• Stay away from buying insurance plan promoted through social networks platforms and instantaneous messaging apps.

• Beware of insurance coverage brokers who market their services in private community online forums or through ads in public places like pubs, coffee shops or newsagents.

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

• Avoid insurance coverage brokers who utilize personal email addresses or cellphone numbers to offer policies.

• If you're stressed about a policy you have actually bought or the information do not look right, call the insurance coverage service provider straight - do not use the details supplied by the broker.

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

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Their scam was discovered when monetary detectives found that he e claimed to have actually earned ₤ 27,366 from 2016 to 2020 despite swiping more than ₤ 61,000 from the insurance coverage scams alone.

When questioned by authorities, his child told officers he might not remember being offered money by his daddy and declared he did not know 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 fraud 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, likewise of Normanton Road, pleaded guilty to money laundering offenses and was provided 16 weeks jail time, suspended for 12 months. He was likewise ordered to complete 100 hours of overdue work.

Ziaed Rauf, 47, of Thurnview Road, Evington, Leicester, was offered 18 weeks jail time, suspended for 12 months, and was bought 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) reveal the rate of the average vehicle insurance plan in January to March 2025 was ₤ 589, a 6 percent drop from the year before.

However, premiums remain more costly today than two years back, 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 activity reporting service in 2024, compared to 22,530 in 2023.

Hacking approaches include scammers gaining control of an account and impersonating the owner to convince others to expose authentication codes.

The rip-offs, called 'ghost broking' are typically promoted on social media, appealing inexpensive quotes for a car insurance plan.

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

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

Many victims believe they are being messaged by a friend.

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

Fraudsters can also acquire account details via phishing rip-offs or data breaches.

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

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

Victims frequently don't understand they have been scammed till they attempt to claim on their policy or if they occur to be dropped in police and asked to show their insurance coverage files.

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

'Remember, if something sounds too good to be real, it practically certainly is.'

Young driver Wayne Simpson purchased a cheap car insurance policy 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.

Young driver Wayne Simpson bought a cheap automobile insurance coverage on social networks before realising 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 secured in my name which the number we had actually provided was not a number they would utilize,' he told Sky News.

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

Mr Simpson stated the insurance files looked so genuine that they managed to fool a cops officer at the scene of the crash.

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