interestrateripoff Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/24624720 The UK's only police insurance fraud unit says it is seeing increasing reports of fake car insurance policies being sold to young drivers.Known as ghost broking, victims are targeted through websites, on social media and on university campuses. They are offered a policy at a greatly reduced rate, often paying a large sum of money up front. In most cases the driver doesn't realise they aren't insured until they are in a crash or stopped by police. They are then liable for six points on their licence and have to pay any damage costs out of their own pocket. It happened to Pete Townsend when he was 19. "I went online. I was just having a browse about and a website came up where you fill in a form and they call you back," he said. "This company called me back with quite a good quote, just short of £1,600, where the others were about £2,000." No surprise that the insurance industry is attracting fraudsters like this considering the price of premiums, the money makes running scam sites very profitable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executive Sadman Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I just dont see how in this day and age, google and the internet to read reviews into such things, anyone with a few brain cells to rub together can fall for this kind of scam. Its just greed, like those brits in spain who wanted 'compensation' for buying houses without planning permission. Really they know its too good to be true, they just bank on the taxpayer paying out to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeFall Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 ^^ This It's a legal requirement to ensure that you're insured to drive the vehicle. Part of this is paying for valid insurance. If you're too stupid to buy a valid policy then quite frankly you deserve what you get.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkins Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I just dont see how in this day and age, google and the internet to read reviews into such things, anyone with a few brain cells to rub together can fall for this kind of scam. I've worked with many 17 year olds, you would be amazed by how naive most of them are. It's the youth equivalent of the old lady who gets tricked into paying £15k to have the gutters cleaned - their brains are just at an age at which they don't make good decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomandlu Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 ^^ This It's a legal requirement to ensure that you're insured to drive the vehicle. Part of this is paying for valid insurance. If you're too stupid to buy a valid policy then quite frankly you deserve what you get.... Why so harsh? It was a 25% discount, not 95%, so fairly plausible IMHO. And until this thread was posted, I'd never heard of scammers selling fake insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthamptonBear Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 (edited) Follow the money - £1600 quid - how was it collected? Credit Card - liable - are they also liable for consequent losses? If by Direct Debit - is that covered by the guarantee? Is the destination bank liable for allowing a scammer to use it? After all, why the identity checks - if they can't be used? Surely this is easy to investigate? Edited October 23, 2013 by NorthamptonBear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 Why so harsh? It was a 25% discount, not 95%, so fairly plausible IMHO. And until this thread was posted, I'd never heard of scammers selling fake insurance. Neither had I, but I'm not surprised by it as it's clearly a very profitable and easy fraud to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopGun Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I just dont see how in this day and age, google and the internet to read reviews into such things, anyone with a few brain cells to rub together can fall for this kind of scam. Its just greed, like those brits in spain who wanted 'compensation' for buying houses without planning permission. Really they know its too good to be true, they just bank on the taxpayer paying out to them. It's greedy not to get ripped off?! WTF? Naive (as I'm sure you weren't at 19) yes but greedy for having the audacity for not wanting to spend over £2000 a year to insure their 1.0 Corsa?! Feck me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executive Sadman Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 (edited) It's greedy not to get ripped off?! WTF? Naive (as I'm sure you weren't at 19) yes but greedy for having the audacity for not wanting to spend over £2000 a year to insure their 1.0 Corsa?! Feck me. Its pretty easy to find out whether a brokerage or insurer is registered with the FSA/FCA, just as it is with a bank or other financial service provider. It takes a few seconds. If you cant even do that before you hand over £1600, £1600 obviously isn't very important to you. Edited October 23, 2013 by Executive Sadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomandlu Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Its pretty easy to find out whether a brokerage or insurer is registered with the FSA/FCA, just as it is with a bank or other financial service provider. It takes a few seconds. If you cant even do that before you hand over £1600, £1600 obviously isn't very important to you. I've never checked either my insurance or my bank. Are you accusing these people of being stupid or greedy? If they hadn't realised that this was an area where scammers operate, why should they be suspicious? The scammers were clever enough to go for 25% off, rather than anything higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erat_forte Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 What's the difference between "fake" insurance and "real" insurance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Jib Fingers Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 What's the difference between "fake" insurance and "real" insurance? Good question. I think "real" insurance has the right piece of paper from the government allowing them to sell it (and forcing the driver to buy it). Both total scams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Loo Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I just dont see how in this day and age, google and the internet to read reviews into such things, anyone with a few brain cells to rub together can fall for this kind of scam. Its just greed, like those brits in spain who wanted 'compensation' for buying houses without planning permission. Really they know its too good to be true, they just bank on the taxpayer paying out to them. well, with 100% of internet traffic intercepted by NSA and GHQ, if even they are fooled and allow this shite to continue, is it any wonder innocents are caught out...and then theres the banks who continue to honour the accounts...when opening an account in the UK requires ID, passport, blood sample and pledge of your eldest born. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timak Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 When I did an insurance price comparison I hadn't heard of any of the companies behind the first 10 or so results. Yes the person being ripped off was a little naive but it isn't an area of fraud I'd heard of before and I think I could have easily fallen for it at his age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybernoid Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 The scammers are one step from being an insurance company, may as well get the rest done now. Employ some people to find reasons not to pay out and there you are. One more scam insurance company. Funny how one is exploiting them and the other not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Self Employed Youth Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 The state should be providing insurance, if it is a legal requirement. I don't bother driving because it is prohibitively expensive. To be honest I don't bother doing much anymore because it is prohibitively expensive. The only things that are financially rational nowadays, are to produce things that are highly taxed to avoid tax (beer, baccy), and to walk instead of use public transport or drive a car. Insurance really gets me wound up, having had family members killed by drivers, I know all to well that some lives are near worthless, and that insurance is a big con. If somebody survives an accident, it is the NHS and welfare state that bares the cost. Car insurance is nothing but a license for a select few to tax others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executive Sadman Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I've never checked either my insurance or my bank. Are you accusing these people of being stupid or greedy? If they hadn't realised that this was an area where scammers operate, why should they be suspicious? The scammers were clever enough to go for 25% off, rather than anything higher. You've never bothered to check whether your bank is FSA/FSCS registered? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkins Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Its pretty easy to find out whether a brokerage or insurer is registered with the FSA/FCA, just as it is with a bank or other financial service provider. It takes a few seconds. If you cant even do that before you hand over £1600, £1600 obviously isn't very important to you. When you were 17 had you ever heard of the FSA/FCA? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executive Sadman Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 When you were 17 had you ever heard of the FSA/FCA? Yes. But I was a weird 17 year old. I still despair at how easily someone is parted with £1600 though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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