A father and kid duo from Leicester scammed chauffeur out of more than ₤ 60,000 by offering worthless car insurance plan that left dozens uninsured.

Ilyas Rauf charged unsuspecting clients up to ₤ 300 for void policies, which left chauffeurs facing possible fines and lorry seizures, while secretly sharing countless pounds with his son Amer Ilyas.

In the rip-off, phony insurance intermediaries will declare they can get you vehicle or home insurance as a discount.

They may either hand over a fake policy or a genuine one, which they consequently cancel to keep the refund for themselves.

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

Rauf, 51, made ₤ 61,763 from August 2016 to January 2020 by providing created employment letters to protect discounted premiums for his victims.

Between September 2019 and June 2020, he shared more than ₤ 11,000 of his revenues with his 28-year-old child, who was offered the task of hiring victims through social media.

The father and child were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court for fraud offenses

The National Crime Agency formerly shared a series of mocked-up Instagram ads offering '100% legitimate insurance coverage ensured to beat any price' to show chauffeurs what to watch out for

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

He incorrectly declared his clients had worked for the business for multiple years without crashes or insurance coverage claims.

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

Police discovered that his child had actually likewise messaged 31 contacts about insurance on his phone between October 2015 to March 2021, often informing clients that his father would supply quotes for them the next day.

Amer Ilyas would then inform victims to go to the workplace or send images of bank cards for processing of payment.

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

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

Four phone calls had actually been made in between the brothers before Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully attempted to block a CCTV cam and fled.

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

Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully attempted to block a CCTV cam and fled

How to prevent falling victim to 'ghost brokers'

Karl Parr, from AXA UK, said clients can protect themselves by following the below suggestions:

• Stay away from buying insurance policies promoted through social media platforms and immediate messaging apps.

• Be cautious of insurance coverage brokers who market their services in personal neighborhood online forums or through ads in public places like pubs, coffee shops or newsagents.

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

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

• If you're stressed over a policy you've acquired or the details do not look right, get in touch with the insurance supplier straight - don't utilize the information provided by the broker.

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

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Their rip-off was revealed when monetary investigators discovered that he e claimed to have earned ₤ 27,366 from 2016 to 2020 regardless of taking more than ₤ 61,000 from the insurance fraud alone.

When questioned by cops, his boy informed officers he could not keep in mind being given money by his dad and claimed he did not know what it was for.

The 3 men appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Friday, June 6.

Ilyas Rauf, 51, of Normanton Road, Highfields, Leicester, pleaded guilty to scams by false representation, breaching the Financial Services and Markets Act and moving 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 given 16 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. He was likewise purchased to finish 100 hours of overdue work.

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

The current figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) show the price of the typical cars and truck insurance plan 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 earlier, with the average policy ₤ 478 in January to March 2023 - 23 percent less than the very first quarter of 2025.

It follows a dramatic increase in social networks 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 techniques include fraudsters getting control of an account and impersonating the owner to convince others to expose authentication codes.

The rip-offs, called 'ghost broking' are frequently advertised on social media, promising inexpensive quotes for a vehicle insurance coverage policy.

Car insurance coverage have dropped over the in 2015, however are still stay traditionally high

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

Many victims think they are being messaged by a pal.

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

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

People frequently utilize the exact same password across accounts, so when one is leaked several accounts are left vulnerable.

Action Fraud has introduced a project, supported by Meta, to encourage people to take additional online protection by enabling two-step verification.

Victims typically don't understand they have actually been scammed until they attempt to claim on their policy or if they happen to be come by cops and asked to show their insurance documents.

Karl Parr, Claims Technical Director, AXA UK, informed MailOnline: 'Ghost brokers usually provide premium rates far less expensive than clients can find elsewhere.

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

Young chauffeur Wayne Simpson purchased a low-cost automobile 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 motorist Wayne Simpson purchased an inexpensive car insurance policy 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 contacted Aviva and they informed me there wasn't a policy taken out in my name which the number we had provided was not a number they would use,' he told Sky News.

'That's when the dust settles, and you realise it's been a fraud.'
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Mr Simpson stated the insurance files looked so real that they handled to deceive a law enforcement officer at the scene of the crash.

'She stated," Your cars and truck's not turning up as guaranteed". Straight away I went to my glove box, pulled the insurance documents, showed her the documents and she checked out through it and said," That's totally great",' he stated.