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A daddy and from Leicester scammed driver out of more than ₤ 60,000 by selling useless car insurance coverage that left dozens uninsured.

Ilyas Rauf charged unwary clients up to ₤ 300 for invalid policies, which left chauffeurs dealing with potential fines and vehicle seizures, while covertly sharing countless pounds with his son Amer Ilyas.
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In the fraud, bogus insurance coverage intermediaries will claim they can get you car or home insurance coverage as a discount rate.

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

Alternatively, they secure a real policy with incorrect details to bring the premium down - which would likely leave it void should you try to make a claim.

Rauf, 51, made ₤ 61,763 from August 2016 to January 2020 by supplying created employment letters to secure reduced 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 provided the job of hiring victims through social media.

The daddy and boy were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court for scams offenses

The National Crime Agency previously shared a series of mocked-up Instagram ads offering '100% legit insurance ensured to beat any price' to reveal drivers what to look out for

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

He falsely declared his clients had actually worked for the business for numerous years without crashes or insurance claims.

It was later on discovered that the address Eastern Catering was registered to was the exact same utilized by Rauf to sell the fake policies.

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

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

Rauf was linked to 52 fraudulent motor insurance plan across four various insurance companies.

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

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

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

Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully tried to block a CCTV camera and got away

How to avoid coming down with 'ghost brokers'

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

• Avoid acquiring insurance coverage policies promoted through social networks platforms and instant messaging apps.

• Beware of insurance brokers who market their services in private community online forums or through advertisements in public locations like bars, 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 through an online portal.

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

• If you're stressed over a policy you've acquired or the information do not look right, call the insurance coverage supplier directly - don't use the information offered by the broker.

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

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Their fraud was revealed when monetary investigators found that he e declared to have made ₤ 27,366 from 2016 to 2020 regardless of filching more than ₤ 61,000 from the insurance coverage scams alone.

When questioned by police, his kid told officers he might not keep in mind being offered cash by his dad and declared he did not know what it was for.

The three guys 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 offenses and was offered 16 weeks jail time, suspended for 12 months. He was likewise bought 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 ordered 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) reveal the cost of the typical car insurance coverage in January to March 2025 was ₤ 589, a 6 percent drop from the year before.

However, premiums stay more pricey today than two years back, with the typical policy ₤ 478 in January to March 2023 - 23 percent less than the 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 offense reporting service in 2024, compared to 22,530 in 2023.

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

The frauds, known as 'ghost broking' are often promoted on social networks, appealing inexpensive quotes for a cars and truck insurance plan.

Car insurance coverage have dropped over the in 2015, but are still stay historically high

The car insurance estimates that ARE too great to be real: Warning over rise in 'ghost brokers'

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

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

Fraudsters can likewise get account information through phishing rip-offs or data breaches.

People often use the very same password across accounts, so when one is dripped a number of accounts are left vulnerable.

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

Victims typically don't realise they have actually been scammed until they try to declare on their policy or if they take place to be come by police and asked to reveal their insurance files.

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

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

Young motorist Wayne Simpson purchased a low-cost cars and truck insurance plan 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 purchased a cheap vehicle insurance plan on social networks before realising it was phony after he was unable to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of ₤ 500

'We called Aviva and they informed me there wasn't a policy secured in my name and that the number we had provided was not a number they would utilize,' he told Sky News.

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

Mr Simpson stated the insurance files looked so real that they handled to fool a law enforcement officer at the scene of the crash.

'She said," Your cars and truck's not turning up as insured". Immediately I went to my glove box, pulled the insurance files, revealed her the documents and she reviewed it and said," That's absolutely fine",' he stated.