Students at the University of Manchester may have thought Christmas had come early on November 21, when they were handed free degree certificates. However, a closer look showed that these documents were fake, issued from the ‘School of Hard Knocks’ and distributed by actors posing as conmen.
The message behind this stunt: if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is – a warning being used by police and the insurance industry to raise awareness of fraudsters selling fake car insurance. Fraudsters, commonly known as ‘ghost brokers’, prey on those paying the highest premiums (new young drivers, mostly men) by offering ‘cheap’ deals online and in person on university campuses.
Fake policies bought from ghost brokers leave drivers exposed to the dangers of driving without valid insurance.
The consequences could include having their car seized by police, along with facing fines, other penalties and getting a criminal record. Uninsured drivers would also pick up the bill for any damage or injuries they cause in a crash.
In response the freephone crime-reporting line charity Crimestoppers, the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, and Insurance Fraud Bureau have joined forces to launch a national campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of being sucked in by a ghost broker.
An animated video calls for young drivers to use their common sense when looking for car insurance. To reinforce this message to University of Manchester students, a team of ‘conmen’ were touring the campus in a battered white van, dishing out their dodgy degrees.
DI Dominic Parkin, Deputy Head of IFED, said: “Ghost broking is a nationwide problem which is now being met by a national law enforcement response. But making arrests and securing convictions is one piece of the puzzle – raising public awareness to prevent the fraudsters from duping young drivers is equally as important.
“The stunt is designed to grab university students’ attention and quickly inform them about the issue. In doing this we will make life much more difficult for the fraudsters and easier for the driving public.”
Ben Fletcher, Director of the IFB, said: “We have enjoyed considerable success working with the police to cut these scams off at source and will continue to identify and pursue fraudsters. This stunt is about reducing the market for these fraudsters to operate in, and emphasises how important it is that drivers shopping for insurance online, or through other means, question what they are being offered to ensure they get a real deal.”
Crimestoppers’ Director of Operations, Roger Critchell, said: “Crimestoppers is pleased to be able to work as part of this collaboration and hope that increased awareness of this crime will bring insurance fraud down.
“We work with a number of organisations to tackle various crimes and we hope this campaign will show similar successes to other partnerships we have been a part of.”
