DSadly, we still live in a world where there are people who do take advantage of the vulnerable for their own financial gain. Our financial regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) who monitor ourselves and over 58,000 financial services firms and financial markets in the UK, confirm that they have seen a five-fold rise in the number of people seeking advice about pension scams, since the launch of their recent collaboration with the Pensions Regulator. Victims of pensions scams according to the Financial Reporter have lost an average of £91,000 each to fraudsters.
So, what is a Pension Scam?
A Pension scam is when someone tries to con you of out of your pension pot, this process will often start by receiving an unexpected call from someone regarding:
- an investment or other business opportunity that you’ve not spoken to them about before
- taking your pension money before you’re 55
- the ways in which you can invest your pension pot
If someone unexpected contacts you and offers help with access to your pension pot before the age of 55 it’s likely to be a scam. If it is too good to be true, then it most likely is!
Your unexpected caller may offer you a tempting way to invest your pension pot, eg investing it in a new hotel being built in an exotic location such as Cape Verde. Most of these offers to invest your pension pot are fake but can appear very convincing. The aim of the scammer is to get you to cash in your pension pot and transfer the money to their scheme.
Please be aware that once you have transferred your pension money into a scam, it’s too late. You could lose all your pension pot as well as face tax of up to 55% or huge additional fees.
Knowing your rights
If someone calls you out of the blue about your pension, the call is illegal and likely to be a fraudster. You should end the call immediately and alert the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), who are an independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals. The ICO can be contacted on their helpline 030 123 1113 or through their website www.ico.org.uk
At Philip J Milton & Company Plc we can advise on your pension planning and all other aspects of your finances, to help you to achieve your financial goals. We have a team of highly qualified advisers who can offer you a professional input into your pension or finances, please do contact the office to arrange a mutually convenient meeting provided at our cost.
