Two RAC employees who hit on a lucrative scam by selling information about customers in road accidents have been ordered to pay back a total of more than £118,000. The pair walked free from court two years ago but must now repay some of their ill-gotten gains or face serving a jail term. Both worked at a call centre in Trafford and were handed suspended prison sentence in 2024 for unlawfully copying and selling over 29,500 lines of personal information. Debbie Okparavero, 63, of Salford
, and Maliha Islam, 53, of Manchester, were customer service specialists at the RAC’s call centre in Stretford . Their unlawful conduct was discovered by and reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) by the RAC after it installed new security monitoring software. Click here to hear the latest from Manchester’s courts in our newsletter The software showed Okparavero had unlawfully accessed and copied personal information relating to people involved in road traffic accidents. A subsequent search of Okaparavero’s mobile phone showed the information was
shared in a WhatsApp chat with Islam. Messages indicated that a third party was paying for the information. At a hearing at Minshull Street Crown Court on 8 October, 2024, Okparavero, of King Edward Street, Salford, and Islam, of Kingsway, Manchester, were sentenced to 6 month prison sentences, suspended for 18 months, and each were ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work. Both defendants had previously pleaded guilty to offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and Data Protection Act 2018. Prosecution costs will
be considered at a Proceeds of Crime hearing listed for 5 March 2025. At Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearings, the ICO secured a total of £118,852.32 in confiscation orders against the two. Andy Curry, Head of ICO Investigations, said: “Accessing people’s personal information when there isn’t a business need to do so is against the law. To then take steps to profit from other people’s misfortune by selling that information is appalling. We will always take action to protect the public from this type
of unlawful behaviour. “We would like to thank the RAC for their swift action in bringing this breach to our attention enabling us to ensure justice was served.” “This outcome demonstrates justice did not end at sentencing. Our powers enabled us to continue to pursue these two individuals in order to strip them of assets gained through their serious criminal activity. Through the Proceeds of Crime Act, we are ensuring people do not financially benefit from their criminal activity. “I would like to once again
thank the RAC for informing us about this breach and fully supporting the ICO’s investigation, which enabled us to hold these two individuals to account.” At the hearing held on Friday 29 May 2026 at Manchester Crown Court , Okparavero, was ordered to pay £85,727.32, plus costs of £3,550.00. If payment of the confiscation order is not made within three months Okparavero will serve 18 months in prison and still be liable to pay the full amount. At a previous hearing in November 2025 Islam,
from Manchester, was ordered to pay £33,125.00 within three months plus costs of £2,797.50. Failure to do so would have carried a 10 month prison sentence. In respect of Islam, the confiscation order has been paid in full. The RAC has since relocated its 300 staff from Stretford to new premises at Salford Quays .
RAC, call centre, Information Commissioner's Office, ICO, POCA, confiscation order, Computer Misuse Act 1990, Data Protection Act 2018, Stretford, Salford Quays, WhatsApp scam
So they let people hit on “scams” and the RAC just noticed later? wild.
Call center jobs really are the worst, like how do you even copy 29,500 lines?? also why does it say they walked free from court then ordered to pay later??
Wait so the ICO installed software and then the RAC reported it… but doesn’t that mean RAC knew and waited? idk. WhatsApp chat paid by a third party sounds like those “data brokers” people always talk about.
People saying “how could they” but call centers literally have access to everything. I’m not even surprised. £118,000 sounds like small potatoes compared to what they sold, unless the third party got all the money and they’re just paying crumbs. also they were suspended sentences in 2024 but ordered to repay now… so basically it’s like slap on the wrist then the bill shows up later, right?