The DSA are fighting a war against people using imposters to sit their driving tests for them. We have previously reported on the worrying trend of people using impersonators to sit their driving test rather than take the test themselves. We can reveal that the DSA have a team called the Fraud Integrity Team who have been charged with trying to bust these gangs.
Based in Nottingham and headed by Andy Rice they have already managed to secure 16 convictions.
The team, which is based at the Driving Standards Agency’s offices in Upper Parliament Street, relies heavily on tip-offs from examiners about suspicions they have.
“The bulk of our work surrounds stopping impersonators at driving tests,” said Mr Rice.
“What often happens is that someone with their test coming up will say to someone they know they think they will fail. This other person may then say to them ‘I know someone who can help’. That’s when they end up getting an imposter.”
In the vast majority of imposter cases, the criminal will take the provisional licence of the person they are helping and act as them.
The gangs charge different amounts of cash depending on how much they think they will be able to get out of someone.
In one case Andy recalls, the imposter donned a latex mask to make him look like the person he was taking the test for. Such cases are criminal offences and FIT are trying to combat it.
“The people who are working on these are often on the edge of criminal gangs,” said Andy. “The cash that is gained from doing the tests often ends up being used in other illegal activity.
“Often if we get a report of one member of a gang doing this we can find others too. In one case we uncovered a gang of about 500 doing it.”
The work done by FIT has seen them land the National Identity Crime Single Point of Contact Award.
Once the team has been informed about a case they often undertake surveillance of an individual. They need to build up evidence before approaching them and getting the police to arrest them. This can prove quite difficult hence the lower number of convictions however with experience the conviction rate will rise.
In many cases the imposter can end up behind bars, though there have been some cases where the one being impersonated has a similar punishment.
Nwzad Ali Suleman, 22, of Forest Road West, Nottingham, is currently serving an eight-month jail term after a friend took a test for him.
Andy added: “It is vital we take action against these people because we will get people driving around on our roads who haven’t passed a test. It is all about keeping the roads safe.
“One of our main weapons is our examiners. They are trained very well to spot something.
“But it can be hard.
“Not many people look the same as they do on a driving licence photo.
“They could easily have changed their appearance.
“We do tell the examiners if they are certain it’s the wrong person they shouldn’t go through with the test.”
Andy said imposters work hard to drive like someone with a provisional licence - though in some cases they overdo it and actually fail the test.
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