A father and child duo from Leicester scammed chauffeur out of more than ₤ 60,000 by selling worthless cars and truck insurance coverage that left dozens uninsured.

Ilyas Rauf charged unsuspecting consumers up to ₤ 300 for void policies, which left motorists dealing with possible fines and automobile seizures, while covertly sharing thousands of pounds with his boy Amer Ilyas.

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

They may either turn over a phony policy or an authentic one, which they consequently 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 try to make a claim.

Rauf, 51, made ₤ 61,763 from August 2016 to January 2020 by offering forged work 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 kid, who was given the task of hiring victims through social media.

The father and kid were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court for fraud offences

The National Crime Agency previously shared a series of mocked-up Instagram advertisements offering '100% legitimate insurance ensured to beat any price' to reveal motorists what to keep an eye out for

An examination found he utilized letters from a business called Eastern Catering to fraudulently acquire no claims discounts.

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

It was later found that the address Eastern Catering was registered to was the very same used by Rauf to offer the phony policies.

Police discovered that his son had actually likewise messaged 31 contacts about insurance on his phone between October 2015 to March 2021, frequently informing consumers that his father would for them the next day.

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

Rauf was connected to 52 deceitful motor insurance coverage throughout 4 various insurers.

Ilyas Rauf's bro Ziaed was caught on CCTV removing 2 computers from the office while cops raided his nephew's home.

Four call had actually been made in between the bros before Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully attempted to obstruct a CCTV cam and got away.

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

Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully tried to obstruct a CCTV camera and got away
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How to avoid falling victim to 'ghost brokers'

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

• Stay away from buying insurance coverage promoted through social media platforms and instant messaging apps.

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

• Don't engage with insurance brokers who ask for payment in money or through bank transfers. Reputable brokers will provide payment choices via an online portal.

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

• If you're fretted about a policy you've bought or the details do not look right, call the insurance coverage service provider straight - don't use 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 financial private investigators discovered that he e claimed to have made ₤ 27,366 from 2016 to 2020 in spite of taking more than ₤ 61,000 from the insurance fraud alone.

When questioned by cops, his kid informed officers he could not remember being given cash by his father and declared he did not understand what it was for.

The 3 males appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Friday, June 6.
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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, also of Normanton Road, pleaded guilty to money laundering offences and was offered 16 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. He was likewise ordered 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 complete 120 hours of overdue 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 typical automobile insurance plan in January to March 2025 was ₤ 589, a 6 percent drop from the year before.

However, premiums remain more pricey today than two years back, with the typical policy ₤ 478 in January to March 2023 - 23 per cent less than the very 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 fraud and cyber crime reporting service in 2024, compared to 22,530 in 2023.

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

The scams, understood as 'ghost broking' are frequently promoted on social media, appealing cheap quotes for an automobile insurance coverage.

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

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

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

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

Fraudsters can likewise get account details via phishing frauds or data breaches.

People frequently use the exact same password across accounts, so when one is dripped numerous accounts are left vulnerable.

Action Fraud has launched a project, supported by Meta, to motivate individuals to take extra online security by allowing two-step verification.

Victims often do not realise they have been scammed till they try to claim on their policy or if they take place to be come by police and asked to show their insurance coverage files.

Karl Parr, Claims Technical Director, AXA UK, told MailOnline: 'Ghost brokers generally offer premium prices far cheaper than clients can discover somewhere else.

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

Young motorist Wayne Simpson bought an inexpensive cars and truck insurance coverage on social networks before understanding it was phony after he was not able to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of ₤ 500.

Young driver Wayne Simpson bought a low-cost vehicle insurance plan on social media before realising it was phony after he was unable to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of ₤ 500

'We contacted Aviva and they told me there wasn't a policy secured in my name which the number we had given them was not a number they would use,' he told Sky News.

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

Mr Simpson said the insurance coverage documents looked so genuine that they handled to fool a policeman at the scene of the crash.

'She stated," Your cars and truck's not turning up as insured". Immediately I went to my glove box, pulled the insurance coverage files, showed her the files and she went through it and stated," That's absolutely great",' he stated.