The group – a multi-agency taskforce including The Pensions Regulator (TPR), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Money and Pensions Service (Maps) – said its warning comes amid fears that recent headlines over squeezed household finances may leave savers more vulnerable to scammers.
It said common signs of a pension scam include:
- Being contacted out of the blue
- Phrases like ‘pension liberation’, ‘loan’, ‘loophole’, ‘savings advance’, ‘one-off investment’, ‘cashback’
- Guarantees of better returns
- Help to release cash from a pension before the age of 55, with no mention of the HM Revenue & Customs tax bill that can arise
- High-pressure sales tactics – time-limited offers to get the best deal; using couriers to send documents, who wait until they’re signed
- Unusual high-risk investments, which tend to be overseas, unregulated, with no consumer protections
- Complicated investment structures
- Fixed-term pension investments – which often mean people who transfer in do not realise something is wrong for several years
The group said savers should also be on guard against recovery room scams or secondary scamming – which sees fraudsters approach people who have already been scammed and offer to help them get their money back in return for a fee.
TPR executive director of frontline regulation and PSAG spokeswoman Nicola Parish said: “Anyone who receives an unexpected call about their pension – even if the call appears to come from a trustworthy organisation -…
