Former RAC staff sentenced for pilfering car crash data

Two former RAC employees have been handed a suspended prison sentence and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, for unlawfully copying and selling over 29,500 lines of personal information.

Debbie Okparavero, 61, of Salford and Maliha Islam, 51, of Manchester, worked as 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 by the RAC after it installed new security monitoring software.

The software showed Okparavero had unlawfully accessed and copied personal information relating to people involved in road traffic accidents.

A subsequent search of her 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, Okparavero and Islam 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 March 5 2025.

The duo are not the first RAC call centre staff to be fingered. In 2021, Kim Doyle of Higher Whitley in Cheshire was found guilty of a similar charge, and ordered to pay £25,000 or face three months’ imprisonment if it had not been not paid within three months.

And, last year, Asif Iqbal Khan pleaded guilty to stealing the personal data of victims of road traffic accidents which the organisation had handled. He was fined £5,000 and also ordered to pay a victim surcharge and court costs.

ICO head of investigations Andy Curry 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.”