WARNING: Pension scammers targeting over-50s - what cons to look out for...
PENSION scammers are ramping up their activity with one in five older savers being targeted in the last three months.
Pension scammers are targeting over 50s
Some 1.8million over-50s have been offered unsolicited free pensions advice or investment opportunities by phone, text or email in recent weeks.
Thousands have been conned out of their pots by fake advisers offering get-rich-quick schemes.
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Many don’t know they’ve been conned or are too ashamed to report it
Retirement Advantage pensions technical director Andrew Tully said pension freedom reforms allowing the over-55s to cash in their pots have opened the floodgates for con men: “The industry and regulators are failing to halt huge sums disappearing into scammers’ pockets.”
He said reported fraud is the tip of the iceberg: “Many don’t know they’ve been conned or are too ashamed to report it.”
Thousands have been conned out of their pots by fake advisers offering get-rich-quick schemes
Tully welcomed Government moves to ban pension cold calling, but said everybody has to be on constant guard: “The basic rule of thumb still stands, if an opportunity sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is.”
Be wary if somebody offers to help you access your pension before age 55, suggests you take a large sum and reinvest it, or discourages you from talking to your adviser, family, or the free Government Pension Wise guidance service.