Following the Coronavirus outbreak, pension scams are a growing risk, with fraudsters taking advantage of the widespread panic and confusion and luring savers into illegal transfers.
Pension scams come in many forms but tend to fall into two main categories:
- Encouraging pension savers to take cash lump sums from their pensions for ‘investments’
- Tricking the victim into transferring their pension to a new provider
Research by Censuswide, conducted in June 2019, suggests more than five million people across the UK could be at risk of falling for at least one of six common tactics used by pension scammers:
- Cold-calls asking for information on your pension
- Free pension reviews
- Claims of guaranteed high returns
- Exotic investments
- Time-limited offers
- Promises of early access to cash lump sum (before age 55)
Although pension’s cold-calling is illegal since January 2019, thousands of people still lose their precious retirement savings every year. There is nothing RPMI can do to get our members’ money back once they’ve been transferred it out of the Scheme, so it is crucial members take extra care before making any decisions about their pension benefits in the Scheme.
For more information, visit pension-scams.com or call The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) on 0300 123 1047 for free pensions guidance and information.