Your pension is likely to be one of your most valuable assets, so it’s important that you protect it from scammers who want to trick you out of your hard-earned savings.
There’s been a sharp increase in scamming since rules about how you can take your pension were relaxed. In December 2020, research by provider The People's Pension found that 1 in 200 adults in the UK - around 250,000 savers - have lost retirement savings to fraud.
Unsolicited phone calls, texts or emails about your pension are illegal. So, if you receive a pension-related cold call you should hang up. You should also ignore any emails or texts offering you a free pension review. Free pension reviews are designed to persuade you to move money in your pension pot into a high-risk scheme.
Scammers will often claim they’re from government-backed bodies. These organisations would never phone or text to offer a pension review or free pension assessment.
You can find out more about common tricks used by scammers and how you can protect yourself here.
The Pensions Regulator has produced a leaflet about pension scams to help you identify potential scammers and action you can take to avoid becoming a victim.
One of the most important things you can do is to seek financial advice from a regulated financial adviser before taking any decision about transferring your pension. Professional advisers will never cold call you, so if you receive an unsolicited phone call, text or social media message offering you a pension review or a one-off investment opportunity, it will be a scam.
If you’re over the age of 55, Raytheon will pay for you to receive impartial financial advice from WPS Advisory Limited. Or you can pay for your own financial advice from an adviser who is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority for the provision of pension transfer advice.
If you think you’ve been targeted by a scam, you should end any communication with the scammer immediately and contact the Information Commissioner’s Office here
If you think you’ve been a victim of a pension scam, you should contact Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 or using their online tool.