The City of London Police has launched a crackdown on insurance ghost brokers who prey on Scottish residents.
Detectives from the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) on Monday visited parts of Scotland where addresses are being used by insurance ghost brokers to obtain unscrupulous car insurance deals.
Police officers spoke to dozens of residents in Aberdeen, Inverness and the Isles of Skye and Harris as part of ongoing investigations into suspected ghost brokers.
IFED probers also gathered evidence and warned residents in the visited areas against mails being sent by the insurance fraudsters.
“If you’re receiving mail and insurance documents addressed to somebody you don’t know or doesn’t live at your address, then it could be part of a bigger fraud,” said IFED detective chief inspector Oliver Little.
“We want to try and make local people aware that their addresses might be used by fraudsters as part of a ghost broking scam,” he added.
According to the IFED, ghost brokers send back forged or altered cover letters to the victims once false address details have been provided and a quote has been obtained.
The fraudsters use this scheme to make victims think that they have valid insurance cover in place, when they actually have no insurance at all or are left with policies that are illegal.
The police said residents in rural areas may receive letters from insurers that are addressed to people who don’t live there. A large number of addresses in Scotland have been identified as being used in this way.
The IFED is advising residents who receive such dubious mails to call the concerned insurers and ask to be put through to their fraud department.
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