Social media ghost broking scams increase in 2024

Social media car insurance scams almost doubled in 2024, leaving victims nearly £200,000 out of pocket in just one year.

That was according to temporary car insurance experts Tempcover, which revealed that ghost broking cases are on the rise and leaving victims facing “devastating consequences”.

A ghost broker is an individual or company that sells fake or invalid insurance policies at a cheaper price, leaving the buyer without legitimate insurance.

Through an analysis of Action Fraud data, Tempcover found that 179 reports of social media car insurance scams were made last year, up from 90 in 2023.

This meant losses to fraudsters rose to £185,369, up from £77,351 the previous year.

Tempcover’s own research also showed one in six people (15%) would consider buying car insurance via social media, with 11% discovering it was a scam.

A total of 2,000 adults were surveyed between 20 and 23 December 2024 for this research.

Jake Lambert, temporary car insurance expert at Tempcover, said: “Falling for a ghost broker scam can have devastating consequences.

“Victims might unknowingly be driving without valid insurance, facing fines, penalty points, or even be at risk of having their vehicle impounded. Worse still, if an accident happens, they could be left with a huge financial loss, paying for damages out of pocket, including vehicle repairs, legal fees, or even compensation for injuries.”

’Collaboration’

Tempcover are now advising drivers to be extremely cautious when seeing car insurance offers on social media and recommend verifying the legitimacy of any provider.

Lambert added that “tackling ghost brokers requires an industry-wide collaboration”.

“That’s why we work closely with the FCA to report regulatory misuse, and in serious cases, engage directly with the police and Action Fraud,” he said.

“We’ve also built formal partnerships with leading social media platforms to swiftly remove fraudulent accounts, ads and profile imitations looking to deceive our customers, helping to better protect them from fraudsters.”