Beware scammers waiting to pounce on your fortune
PENSION freedoms can mean rich pickings for scammers who target people who have access to a large sum of pension money.
Victims of fraudsters targeting pension savings lost an average of £91,000 each last year, according to data from financial watchdogs.
Savers have been vulnerable to being tricked into transferring large sums of money to exotic or fraudulent investment schemes.
A total loss of £23million was reported by just 253 victims of pension scams to Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud reporting centre.
The Financial Conduct Authority and the Pensions Regulator launched a joint television advertising campaign earlier this year – with the slogan “Don’t let a scammer enjoy your retirement” – to warn the public about the tactics used by scammers.
Cold-calling – set to be banned next year – has been the most common method used to reach pension holders.
But the regulators have also warned people to be on their guard if they are promised high returns for low-risk schemes, and to be wary of being pressured into making a quick investment decision.
Citizens Advice has calculated that 10.9million consumers have received unsolicited contact about their pension since April 2015.
And research by the Money Advice Service, a governmentcreated body, suggests there could be as many as eight scam calls every second.
A poll commissioned by the watchdogs found that about a third of pension holders aged 45 to 65 would not know how to check if they were speaking to a legitimate pensions adviser.
Nicola Parish, executive director at the Pensions Regulator, said: “If someone cold-calls you about your pension, it’s probably an attempt to steal your savings.”
Margaret Snowdon, a non-executive director of the Pensions Regulator and chair of Pension Liberation Industry Group, has previously estimated that scam losses since 2015 could be more than £1billion.