Tackling ghost broking
Ghost brokers pose as legitimate insurance brokers to sell fake motor insurance, often through social media platforms.
What is ghost broking?
Ghost brokers are scammers who pose as legitimate insurance brokers to sell fake policies, often through social media platforms.
They often target new, inexperienced drivers by offering policies at a much cheaper price than is normally available to this group. The policyholder themselves may also be aware of the fraud, using a ghost broking policy to hide other criminal activity.
Investigations by the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) have shown a significant rise in ghost broking activity across the UK, with over 50% more cases identified in the past two years.
Three common methods of ghost broking
Genuine policies
They buy a genuine policy on behalf of their victim, often using incorrect details, that they cancel shortly after purchase and take the refund money.
Fake documents
They send over fake documents or give access to fake apps that look genuine but won’t provide real cover.
Stolen IDs
They use stolen IDs to take control over existing accounts with insurers or to buy new fraudulent policies.
How to spot a ghost broking policy
Road policing teams play a vital role in helping to identify victims of ghost broking and sharing insights with counter-fraud teams. To help support you in your commitment to keep roads safe from uninsured driving, we've put together top tips on the checks to carry out if you suspect an insurance policy might be fraudulent.
The policy documents may include poor grammar, low quality logos or watermarked images.
The email address of the sender may use a public domain, such as @gmail, @mail or @yahoo.
The policyholder or driver may not be able to access a genuine insurance app or web portal, or the log in may be for a fictitious company.
The personal details of the policyholder, such as date of birth or home address, may not match those on the policy document.
The certificate may look very convincing, but the policy is not showing on Navigate. In this case, you can contact MIB's Police Helpline
The policyholder may mentions that the policy was a lot cheaper than other quotes found on conventional comparison sites or insurer's own websites.
The policyholder states that they found the broker on social media and only spoke to them via messaging services, such as WhatsApp or social media direct messaging.
Questions to ask
Reporting insurance fraud
Industry support
Evidence of an insurance scam can be reported to the IFB’s confidential CheatLine online or via 0800 422 0421.
Advice is also available to help anyone who believes their details may have been used in policy fraud.
Police intelligence
City of London Police's IFED also accepts intelligence from forces, including the outcome. Complete intelligence on your system and request your Force intelligence Bureau to share the intelligence with City of London Police, sending it to IST@cityoflondon.police.uk marked as OP DEVORAN.
Other motor insurance scams
Find out how uninsured driving links to different types of fraud and how to spot them.
