Revealed: The criminal gangs brazenly advertising on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook as they make millions by helping motorists avoid speeding fines and penalty points
- EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of desperate drivers are turning to crooks who will use fake or stolen details to claim on their behalf
Criminal gangs are making millions of pounds by helping motorists to avoid speeding fines and penalty points, a Mail on Sunday investigation can reveal.
Thousands of desperate drivers are turning to crooks who will use fake or stolen details to claim on their behalf that someone else was driving the vehicle clocked speeding on police cameras.
Last month, Premier League footballer Jesse Lingard, 30, was banned from driving for six months after police were given the name of a fake driver when the footballer was caught speeding in his Range Rover. Lingard pleaded guilty but his lawyer said he did not know who had provided the false name.
Our investigation discovered dozens of speeding point scammers who brazenly advertise their services on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, telling motorists that they can make their fines and points ‘disappear’.
Undercover reporters contacted the accounts posing as motorists who had received a speeding ticket. Within just two days, ten different people had agreed to remove a speeding fine for a fee, varying between £250 and £800.
Thousands of desperate drivers are turning to crooks who will use fake or stolen details to claim on their behalf
Last month, Premier League footballer Jesse Lingard, 30, (pictured) was banned from driving for six months after police were given the name of a fake driver when the footballer was caught speeding in his Range Rover
The fraudsters explained that they will fill out a police form called a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) to claim that someone else was behind the wheel at the time of the speeding offence. Often they supply a bogus name and address, sending the police chasing ‘shadows’ before they give up pursuing the case.
Sometimes the gangs fill in the form using the stolen identity of a totally innocent motorists – landing them with the fine and points. Other crooks are using vulnerable people who are forced to cooperate in their scheme.
Some gangs have been using the same fake names and addresses dozens of times, which police have nicknamed NIP Farms. A derelict two-bed terraced house in Oldham, Manchester, was used 140 times by the criminals.
Last night, police chiefs warned that the NIP Farms are linked to Organised Crime Groups.
Sean Erett, of the Lancashire Constabulary’s Road Safety Unit, said: ‘The people who are involved in running these things at that sort of top end are the same people who are trying to sell our kids drugs.’
Mr Erett said that one NIP farm gang operating in the Greater Manchester area, was believed to have made in excess of £1million by handling more than 2,000 speeding fines. But so far only one fraudster has been convicted. Gvido Trankalis, 24, from Burnley, Lancashire, was jailed for 20 months last October, but previously showed off his flashy lifestyle on social media, posing with a designer Louis Vuitton bag and holidaying in Capri.
The fraudsters explained that they will fill out a police form called a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) to claim that someone else was behind the wheel at the time of the speeding offence
Scammers are brazenly advertising their services on TikTok , Instagram and Facebook, like the above. One boasts ‘speeding ticket removal, anywhere in the UK’
Thousands of desperate drivers are turning to crooks who will use fake or stolen details to claim on their behalf that someone else was driving the vehicle clocked speeding on police cameras (File image)
One NIP fraudster, openly advertising on Facebook Marketplace, told our reporters that the process was ‘faster than a speeding ticket’ and could be done in just ten minutes for a £250 fee.
The woman, who appeared to be Greek and living in London, said: ‘I will put the ticket under another name then you are cleared…All I have to do is change it to someone else’s name.’
Another man, going by the name of Lalu, replied to our reporter within one minute and said he could remove a speeding fine for £250, which he asked to be sent by bank transfer. ‘We are professionals,’ he said, claiming he had been doing it for two years.
Xclusive Services Group, which said it specialised in speeding ticket removal, charged £300 for the service. It has 34,000 Instagram followers and nearly 5,000 likes on TikTok, where it promises to remove fines with a ‘100 per cent guarantee.’
Police forces said they were cracking down on the NIP Farms. Mr Erett warned that the criminals are helping dangerous drivers to remain on the roads, adding: ‘If people are using these NIP Farms to avoid losing their driving licences, and continue to drive, carelessly, or dangerously or at an excess speed, it is going to put people at risk.’
Forces in the North West of England have started targeting drivers who use NIP Farms. Since June last year, Greater Manchester Police has prosecuted over 300 drivers, of which half lost their driving licenses. Taxi drivers, doctors and business owners were among those convicted. Drivers caught using NIP Farms face a six-penalty point punishment, a hefty fine and a criminal conviction. Both drivers and the NIP Farm crooks can be prosecuted for perverting the course of justice, which can lead to jail terms. GMP said it had arrested and interviewed six people suspected of running NIP Farms and its investigations were ongoing.
This is the moment an undercover reporter from the Mail on Sunday handed over £350 to a suspected scammer who offered to make a speeding fine and points ‘go away.’
Our reporter contacted the man through his Instagram page which had more than four thousand followers.
Within minutes of messaging him, the man responded to the reporter saying he can make his speeding ticket go away.
The man – who later gave his name as Sam – first asked for a picture of the speeding ticket we had received.
After we sent him a mocked-up version of a ticket, he replied: ‘Yeah sweet can be sorted. When do you want to meet bro?’
‘Sam’ counting the £350 our reporter paid him to make his speeding ticket ‘go away’
Sam told our undercover reporter: ‘There’s one thing I’ll tell you brother, I’ve been doing [this] for a long time. You don’t need to panic…it’ll get done.’
Sam arranged to meet our reporter at the car park of a petrol station in Barking, East London, on Friday night where he turned up in a Mercedes E63 AMG worth around £130,000.
He told the reporter he would nominate another person as the driver of the vehicle at the time of the ‘offence.’ He said the person was a foreign national who no longer lived in the UK and would not come back, adding the man has an EU driving licence.
Sam said: ‘There’s one thing I’ll tell you brother, I’ve been doing [this] for a long time. You don’t need to panic…it’ll get done.’
The reporter handed over the cash and Sam said the job would be done later that night.
He then offered other dodgy services such as obtaining fake EU driving licences, and changing log book details of diesel vehicles so theydo not come under the daily £12.50 ULEZ charge in London.
Yesterday, when we confronted Sam on his crooked activities, he hung up the phone.
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