Scammers will try to persuade pension savers to transfer their entire pension savings, or to release funds from it, by making promises and creating a sense of urgency, for example, “act quickly or you’ll miss out”. Sometimes scammers suggest that pension savers can access their money ‘tax-free’ by exploiting special loopholes.
But there’s a serious risk that savers could not only lose their money to the scammers but also face a serious bill from HMRC, especially if all this happens when the saver is under the age of 55.
The Pensions Regulator highlights several warning signs of a pension scam. Remember that cold calling about pensions is illegal and a likely sign of a scam.
Cold calls used to be the scammers’ most common method of approach. But since the cold-call ban was introduced in 2019 their tactics have evolved.
Some have moved on to sophisticated models, making contact through social media, or they have been known to use friends and family to reach new groups of people.
READ MORE: Are they being reclusive? Indication your vulnerable relative is being scammed
Signs of a pension scam
Keep up to date with current and evolving scam tactics and get to know the signs of a pensions scam:
- Look out for phrases like ‘free pension review’, ‘pension liberation’, ‘loan’, ‘loophole’, ‘savings advance’, ‘one-off investment’, ‘cashback’
- Beware of guarantees they can get better returns on pension savings
- Be wary of help to release cash from a pension…
