A dad and boy duo from Leicester scammed motorist out of more than ₤ 60,000 by offering worthless vehicle insurance plan that left dozens uninsured.
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Ilyas Rauf charged unwary customers up to ₤ 300 for invalid policies, which left chauffeurs dealing with possible fines and car seizures, while covertly sharing thousands of pounds with his son Amer Ilyas.

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

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

Alternatively, they take out a real policy with inaccurate information 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 work letters to secure reduced 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 given the task of recruiting victims through social media.

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

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

An investigation found he used letters from a business called Eastern Catering to fraudulently obtain no claims discounts.

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

It was later discovered that the address Eastern Catering was registered to was the same used by Rauf to offer the .

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

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

Rauf was linked to 52 deceptive motor insurance plan across four different insurance companies.

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

Four call had actually been made in between the siblings before Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully tried to block a CCTV camera and ran away.

Ziaed was captured on CCTV eliminating two computer systems from the workplace while police robbed his nephew's home.

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

How to avoid falling victim to 'ghost brokers'

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

• Stay away from purchasing insurance coverage promoted through social networks platforms and immediate messaging apps.

• Beware of insurance coverage brokers who market their services in private neighborhood forums or through ads in public places like clubs, cafes or newsagents.

• Don't engage with insurance coverage brokers who request payment in money or through bank transfers. Reputable brokers will provide payment alternatives through an online portal.

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

• If you're stressed over a policy you have actually bought or the details do not look right, call the insurance coverage provider directly - don't use the details offered by the broker.

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

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

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

The 3 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 transferring 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 provided 16 weeks jail time, suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to finish 100 hours of unsettled work.

Ziaed Rauf, 47, of Thurnview Road, Evington, Leicester, was offered 18 weeks jail time, suspended for 12 months, and was ordered to complete 120 hours of unsettled 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 cars and truck insurance coverage in January to March 2025 was ₤ 589, a 6 percent drop from the year before.

However, premiums stay more expensive today than 2 years earlier, with the average policy ₤ 478 in January to March 2023 - 23 per cent less than the first quarter of 2025.

It follows a dramatic rise 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 crime reporting service in 2024, compared with 22,530 in 2023.

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

The frauds, referred to as 'ghost broking' are frequently marketed on social networks, appealing cheap quotes for an automobile insurance coverage.

Car insurance plan have actually dropped over the in 2015, but are still stay traditionally high

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

Many victims think they are being messaged by a buddy.

The most common motives for social networks hacking were financial investment scams, ticket scams or theft, Action Fraud stated.

Fraudsters can also get account details by means of phishing scams or data breaches.

People frequently use the very same password throughout accounts, so when one is leaked numerous accounts are left susceptible.

Action Fraud has launched a project, supported by Meta, to motivate individuals to take extra online defense by making it possible for two-step confirmation.

Victims typically do not understand they have been scammed until they try to declare on their policy or if they occur to be dropped in police and asked to reveal their insurance coverage documents.

Karl Parr, Claims Technical Director, AXA UK, told MailOnline: 'Ghost brokers usually offer premium costs far more affordable than consumers can find in other places.

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

Young driver Wayne Simpson purchased a cheap cars and truck 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.

Young motorist Wayne Simpson purchased an inexpensive vehicle insurance coverage on social media before understanding it was phony after he was not able to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of ₤ 500

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

'That's when the dust settles, and you realise it's been a rip-off.'

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

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