Azeem Mahmood Hussain used fake templates and forged documents to sell fake insurance policies to gullible customers on Gumtree, who were then subject to driving without insurance.
The con first came to light in July 2013 when a driver was stopped by the police in Northern Ireland. After the police check revealed that the driver was uninsured, the driver insisted that he was insured, telling the police that he paid £200 into a bank account for a Gumtree advertised policy.
In September 2013, another victim who paid £1000 for what he thought was a genuine car insurance policy from Gumtree, visited a police station in Leicestershire to report that he had been swindled.
Three police teams joined forces to attempt to uncover the scam that the schoolboy mastermind was behind.
The case was passed onto the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, who are part of the city of London Police, who recognised the account being used to process the money from the scam, belonged to Hussain.
Officers then arrested Hussain and found over 100 templates and forged documents on his personal laptop. His mobile number also matched the number that was being used to place ads on Gumtree.
Police also found that more than £14,000 had been paid into one of his accounts, with an additional £2250 paid into a different account held by Hussain.
Detective Sergeant Matt Hussey, from the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, said: “Hussain is one of the youngest ever people we’ve dealt with for insurance fraud and this was a crude attempt by him to make some fast cash from his bedroom.
“He was advertising cheap motor insurance deals on Gumtree and sadly he was able to con some people into thinking he was a genuine broker.
“Gumtree has since removed the insurance category from its website so that unscrupulous individuals like Hussain are no longer able to operate on there.”
Hussain previously pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and was jailed this month for 12 months at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
