According to the BBC, scammers who promise to assist individuals in fraudulently passing their driving tests in the UK are heavily publicizing their services on social media.
On Facebook and TikTok, there are more than 600 pages, groups, and accounts offering licenses without exams and having thousands of followers.
Some people advise using lookalikes for the practical test, while others use Bluetooth earpieces to provide theory test assistance.
Such content, according to Meta and TikTok, is against their rules.
As of June 16, there were at least 669 pages, groups, and accounts with 138,900 followers that advertised driving license services without requiring a test, according to BBC Verify's analysis of data from Facebook and TikTok. Instagram also features advertisements.
According to exclusive data provided to the BBC by the Driving Standards Agency (DVSA), reports of driving test fraud through impersonation have more than tripled in the last five years, from 654 in 2018 to 2,015 in 2023.
It claims that although the issue is still largely hidden, more people are getting caught and having their licenses revoked.
More than four million theory and practical car tests were taken in the UK between April 2021 and March 2022, with a pass rate of roughly 50%.
During our investigation, we discovered that social media sites were strewn with posts in various languages. Many people use real images of pass certificates and driving licenses that were taken from advertising images posted on social media pages belonging to legitimate driving schools.
The posts only offer a mobile number or ask people to contact them via a direct message if they want more information about how these licenses are granted without taking a test.
By pretending to be a person without any driving experience who was looking for a license, the BBC contacted several people who were offering these services on social media. .
Without administering any tests, one man advertising on Facebook offered to provide a UK driving license for £720 and deliver the pass certificate to the reporter's home in five days.
The RAC estimates the total cost of learning to drive, including tests and lessons, to be £1,551 - assuming the person passes first time. A theory test costs £32 and the practical test costs £62. In Northern Ireland, the theory test is £32 and the practical test is £45.50.
One woman who posted ads in Vietnamese on Facebook claimed to charge £1,600 for assistance with passing the theory test and £2,600 for the driving test, for a total of £4,200.
She explained that in order to make sure she had a suitable lookalike to take the tests, she first needed to see what the reporter looked like.
A woman who paid for a phony service was also found by the BBC. Through a Facebook post, she was able to find someone to take her son's difficult practical test. .
After the fraudster passed the test on her son's behalf, the mother gave him about £1,000 in payment.
The woman's son would have his license revoked and face fraud charges, which could result in a prison sentence and/or a fine, if he were ever caught.
According to TikTok and Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, soliciting the use of false identification documents is not permitted on their platforms, and any content found to be in violation of their policies will be taken down.
Additionally, TikTok claims that in response to the BBC Investigation, it has taken action against a number of accounts.
Driving instructors have told the BBC that the length of time it takes to secure a practical test slot may be the cause of the rise in practical test fraud. .
Due to a backlog caused by the Covid pandemic, waiting times in some areas of the UK can reach six months. In order to take the test for others, some of the fraudsters the BBC spoke to were prepared to travel to locations in the UK where waiting times were shorter.
The Driving Instructors Association's chief executive, Carly Brookfield, claimed that the backlog was resulting in "a desperation for test slots.".
"You're going to think about cheating the system if you're facing the fact that if you don't pass the test you have to wait for up to six months [to try again]," she said.
She added that individuals running criminal services had contacted some of the instructors in her association and asked them to refer students who were having trouble passing their test.
Due to the high demand for tests, operators have started purchasing slots in bulk using automated software and reselling them at exorbitant prices.
According to the DVSA, it actively deletes accounts that violate the booking platform's terms and conditions.
The BBC discovered a Turkish-language flyer offering a "100% guarantee" method to pass the theory test while conducting its investigation. .
The man behind the advertisement went by the name of Erdal, and our undercover reporter approached him while posing as someone with little driving experience.
He claimed to be able to assist them in cheating by using a "microscopic" Bluetooth earpiece connected to a cell phone to feed them the answers to the multiple choice questions on the test. .
He explained to them that by clicking on the questions, the computer would "read out loud" the answers so he could whisper them to them.
It costs £1,500, and you should pay him after the test, he said. You'll have a gadget in your ear. The test takers won't peek behind your head.
"We have been doing this for a while. Every day, we serve at least two people with this. " .
The BBC called the man at the number we had for him after the meeting to confront him about the scam. The person who responded bore the same name but disclaimed any knowledge of test fraud. .
People whose driving license or test pass certificate photos have been stolen from trustworthy websites may also experience identity fraud issues as a result of these fraudulent online advertisements.
We spoke with Ian Jones, whose driving license photo had been taken from a logistics business where he was registered. Later, he learned that someone was using it to promote a "theory/practical certificate without exams" service on Instagram.
Since his license information is being fraudulently used abroad, according to Mr. Jones, he has had to contest hundreds of French speeding and parking tickets.
"It gives you a horrible feeling, it makes you paranoid, it's like being burgled; you feel violated," he said. ".
Many online advertisements promising full licenses quickly are money-making scams, the Driving Standards Agency (DVSA), which promotes road safety and establishes standards for training, warns. These advertisements may only provide a fake license. A genuine driving license can only be issued by the Driving and Vehicle and Licensing Agency (DVLA), it adds.
According to the DVSA, more people are being charged with test fraud due to impersonation. They could receive jail time and fines if found guilty. A woman received an eight-month sentence in prison last year for taking roughly 150 other drivers' theory and practical tests.
The DVSA cautions that failure to meet the required driving standards before operating a vehicle could result in fatalities or seriously injured people.
Its head of law enforcement, Marian Kitson, claimed that hundreds of licenses obtained illegally had been revoked in 2022 and that the investigation team was catching more fraudsters.
53 arrests were made in the year beginning April 2022, and 30 cases involving 497 fraud by false representation offenses were sent to the government for prosecution. .
Ms. Kitson added that they were unaware of the true scope of the issue but that it was evident from their investigations that even more were taking place.
The internet and social media platforms are enormous, and these people are very clever because they move and change the advertisements frequently, she said. .
So it turns out that identifying them and acting quickly is a real challenge.
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