Cold calling must be banned with no further delay
JUST when you are at your most vulnerable the cold callers come. Since my father passed away at the start of the year my mother has been getting many more cold calls.
Fortunately she is more than able to see off these fishing expeditions by companies eager to advise her on how to invest money. But it is shocking to hear that some £46.7million has been stolen from pension pots throughout the UK by cold calling companies offering so-called free reviews of investment opportunities.
It has been estimated by the Action Fraud crime reporting centre that an average of £91,000 was stolen from 253 savers last year. But that is probably just the tip of the iceberg as many victims are too embarrassed to report the crimes.
To help combat this the Financial Conduct Authority and the Pensions Regulator have launched a joint TV advertising campaign to warn us of the danger. But it’s no good spending millions of pounds raising awareness of this if the scammers are free to phone us directly in our homes.
Ever since the Government allowed the over-55s to spend their retirement nest eggs as they choose, telephone fraudsters have embarked on a feeding frenzy. Gaining personal details from savers by promising them too good to be true investment schemes, they then loot their hard earned cash.
WHY is this still happening? Two years ago the Government promised to deliver a ban on such cold calling. Clause 9 of the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill specifically prohibits unsolicited direct marketing related to pensions.
It was supposed to be in place by June but now we’re told it will not come into force until the autumn. The Government needs to get its skates on as each week of delay means that many more older people are exposed to telephone fraudsters determined to steal their lifetime’s savings.
Once that money has gone it is gone for good and proud independent people who want to use their savings to provide for their own retirement are forced back on to the state to support them in their old age.