A dad and son duo from Leicester scammed out of more than ₤ 60,000 by selling useless cars and truck insurance coverage that left lots uninsured.

Ilyas Rauf charged unsuspecting clients up to ₤ 300 for invalid policies, which left chauffeurs facing prospective fines and car seizures, while covertly sharing countless pounds with his child Amer Ilyas.

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

They might either turn over a phony policy or a real one, which they consequently cancel to keep the refund for themselves.

Alternatively, they get a genuine policy with incorrect info 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 work letters to secure 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 kid, who was given the task of recruiting victims through social networks.

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

The National Crime Agency formerly shared a series of mocked-up Instagram ads using '100% legitimate insurance coverage ensured to beat any rate' to show motorists what to look out for

An investigation found 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 business for multiple years without crashes or insurance claims.

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

Police found that his son had actually also messaged 31 contacts about insurance coverage on his phone in between October 2015 to March 2021, frequently informing consumers that his daddy would provide quotes for them the next day.

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

Rauf was linked to 52 deceitful motor insurance coverage policies across four different insurers.

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

Four phone calls had been made between the bros before Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully tried to obstruct a CCTV camera and left.

Ziaed was caught on CCTV eliminating two computers from the workplace while police robbed his nephew's home.

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

How to avoid succumbing to 'ghost brokers'

Karl Parr, from AXA UK, said customers can secure themselves by following the below suggestions:

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

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

• Don't engage with insurance coverage brokers who request 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 cellphone numbers to offer policies.
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• If you're fretted about a policy you have actually acquired or the details don't look right, get in touch with the insurance service provider straight - do not use the details provided by the broker.

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

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

When questioned by cops, his boy told officers he might not remember being given money by his daddy 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 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 money laundering offences and was given 16 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to finish 100 hours of overdue work.

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

The most recent figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) show the rate 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 remain more pricey today than two years earlier, 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 networks and email hacking reports in 2015, according to Action Fraud.

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

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

The scams, referred to as 'ghost broking' are frequently promoted on social networks, promising cheap quotes for a cars and truck insurance plan.

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

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

Many victims believe they are being messaged by a friend.

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

Fraudsters can likewise get account information by means of phishing frauds or data 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 campaign, supported by Meta, to encourage people to take extra online protection by allowing two-step confirmation.

Victims often don't realise they have actually been scammed up until they try to declare on their policy or if they happen to be dropped in authorities and asked to reveal their insurance documents.

Karl Parr, Claims Technical Director, AXA UK, told MailOnline: 'Ghost brokers usually provide premium costs far more affordable than clients can discover somewhere else.

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

Young driver Wayne Simpson purchased a cheap 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 motorist Wayne Simpson bought an inexpensive automobile insurance coverage on social networks before understanding it was phony after he was unable to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of ₤ 500

'We phoned Aviva and they informed me there wasn't a policy gotten in my name and that the number we had provided was not a number they would use,' he informed Sky News.
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'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 managed to fool an authorities officer at the scene of the crash.

'She said," Your car's not appearing as insured". Straight away I went to my glove box, pulled the insurance documents, showed her the files and she checked out it and stated," That's absolutely great",' he said.