One in four UK adults aged 40 and over would consider accessing their pension early to pay for the cost of living, research reveals.
The regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is warning that pension holders are becoming vulnerable to ‘misdirection’ scams in light of the cost-of-living crisis.
It said 44% of savers admitted they would take up the offer of a free pension review. But this is a classic distraction technique used by criminals to con them into parting with their life savings.
Worries about not having enough money to last through retirement make savers vulnerable to pension scams. Of the 1,000 people surveyed, 17% of over 65s said they were still working just because they couldn’t afford to retire on their current pension pot.
More than a third (37%) said they weren’t confident they had enough in their pension pot to last for their whole retirement.
Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “The rising cost of living is affecting people at all savings levels, and pension scammers are taking advantage of this.
“Pension scammers are tricking victims with false promises of a better lifestyle in retirement, more money to support a better life in hard times. Like the magician’s trick, thousands can disappear in seconds, but this time the consequences can be devastating ones.”
‘Misdirection’ pension scams
So called ‘misdirection’ scams are a way of distracting victims, usually…
