Common IP Address Details Highlighted Ghost Broking Activity

The latest case report from the IFED is interesting, mainly bcause of the lack of custodial sentence. So many serious crimes which put lives at risk result in no jail time. That means no deterrent so the problem will continue. The other factor here is the use of data cross-referencing to spot patterns in quotes and inceptions.

Here’s the word;

A man who offered fraudulent motor insurance policies to Sudanese nationals living in the UK has been sentenced.

Hafiz Mohammad, 30, of Polygon Street, Manchester, acted as an illegal intermediary, also known as a ghost broker. He sold the policies to members of the Sudanese community in the north of England, many of whom did not speak English as their first language.

Six of the policyholders each paid Mohammad a fee of between £120 and £180 to arrange insurance. A seventh policyholder gave Mohammad £1,016 in the belief that they were paying for a full years’ insurance. They were unaware that Mohammad would then set up the policies using false information to reduce the premiums, leaving them without valid insurance.

Mohammad pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court on 14 December 2023 to eight counts of fraud by false representation. He was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, at the same court on 15 January 2024. He must also complete 150 hours of unpaid work and a 15 day rehabilitation activity requirement, and pay victim compensation.

CAUGHT VIA DATA TRACKING

The use of common IP addresses online helped to raise suspicion about this particular ghost broker, as IFED explain here;

The case was referred to the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) in August 2019 by LV= General Insurance, whose fraud team identified six motor insurance policies that it suspected had been taken out using false information.

This included using an older named driver, changing the details of the insured vehicle and lowering the mileage, all unknown to the victims. Enquiries with the Insurance Fraud Bureau revealed that a second insurer, esure, had identified multiple policies that had been taken out from Mohammad’s residence. This led to four further policies, which were taken out from the same IP address, being identified at LV=.

IFED officers and the LV= fraud team linked Mohammad to a total of 13 fraudulent policies that were taken out at LV= from December 2018 to February 2020. Mohammad was arrested on 2 July 2020, and a laptop and two mobile phones were seized during a search warrant at his home address. During his police interview, Mohammad answered “no comment” to all questions asked.

A number of people targeted by Mohammad provided victim personal statements at his sentencing hearing. One said:

“This has caused a huge amount of anxiety and stress over the last four years. It has affected my marriage because I had to explain to my partner that Hafiz had taken my money. I have never been in trouble with the police, and this again has had a negative impact on my health through worry and stress. As a result of what he has done to me, I do not drive, which has stopped me conducting activities that I participated in.”