A GROUP of friends hatched an ‘unsophisticated’ crash-for-cash scam to make themselves ‘easy money’.

The five men and one woman claimed they were involved in an accident at Whitebirk roundabout in Blackburn, close to junction six of the M65.

But their lies were unravelled by vigilant insurance officers who noticed inconsistencies in their claims.

The Blackburn gang have now all pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation at a hearing at Preston Crown Court.

Detectives who investigated the group said they initially looked into whether they were behind other incidents in the area.

But where more organised gangs have caused unsuspecting motorists to smash into the back of them, police said it was close friends Yusuf Mohammed Wasway and Ibrahim Seedat who agreed to crash into each other for a quick whiplash payout.

Wasway, 25, of Cherry Street, claimed he had been driving a blue Audi A3 while Seedat, 28, of Wareham Street, was driving a black Vauxhall Astra when the accident happened.

Aziz Bham, 23, of Addington Street, Ismail Seedat, 24, of Bethel Road, Sabina Patel, 26, of Cherry Street, and Ahmed Patel, 29, of Town Walk, all claimed to be passengers in the cars and said they had been injured.

All six defendant’s bogus personal injury claims for whiplash were rejected.

Police said ‘ringleader’ Wasway agreed for the others to claim on his policy.

He received £1,800 for damage to his car, but inconsistencies in the report of the accident and the assessment by Zurich Insurance raised the alarm.

He and the other claimants were arrested in March 2010 following a lengthy investigation following the alleged crash on April 18, 2008.

Detectives have ruled the gang out of a more complex ‘crash for cash’ ring and said it appears to be an ‘opportunistic’ single claim which was ‘hatched together as a quick money-making scam’.

It is estimated that this type of crime results in costs of up to £45 a year for every genuine insurance premium customer throughout the country.

Det Chief Insp Dean Holden said: “We work closely with the Insurance Fraud Bureau and will deal robustly with anyone caught engaging in this type of activity.

“Crash for cash scams are dangerous and illegal and will not be tolerated.

"Criminal gangs involved in this type of scam are targeting honest and law-abiding motorists and are putting people’s lives at risk.

“We work very hard to reduce road casualties and make our roads safer for everyone.

"This type of crime penalises other law-abiding motorists through increased insurance premiums.”

In some instances, fraudsters have been known to drive around busy roundabouts, road junctions or slip-roads and perform an unnecessary and dangerous emergency stop causing the innocent driver to crash into them.

The fraudster then claims on the innocent motorists insurance, often with several accounts of fictitious injuries.

Last month, Burnley brothers Rezwan and Rehan Javed were jailed for 11 years for a £2million ‘crash for cash scam’ where their North West Claims Ltd rogue firm benefitted from the staging of more than 80 fake collisions across the north west.

All six friends will be sentenced on Monday, November 14 at Preston Crown Court.

Click below for the crash-for-cash photo gallery