Your pension is one of your most valuable assets, and for many it offers financial security throughout retirement and the rest of their lives. But, like anything valuable, your pension can become the target for illegal activities, scams or inappropriate and high-risk investments.
Fraudsters promise high returns and low risk, but in reality, pension savers who are scammed can be left with nothing. When savers realise they’ve been scammed, it can be devastating – many lose their life savings. Once the money is gone, it’s almost impossible to get it back.
Anyone can be the victim of a pension scam, no matter how savvy they think they are. It’s important that everyone can spot the warning signs. Scammers try to persuade pension savers to transfer their entire pension savings, or to release funds from it, by making attractive-sounding promises they have no intention of keeping.
The pension money is often invested in unusual, high-risk investments like:
Scammers often cold call people via phone, email or text – this is illegal, and a likely sign of a scam. They often advertise online and can have websites that look official or government-backed.
Other common signs of pension scams:
Many scammers persuade savers to transfer their money into single member occupational schemes, or other occupational pension schemes. It’s good to remember that pension scams can take many forms and usually appear to most to be a legitimate investment opportunity.
What to do if you think you’ve been or are being scammed, If you think you might have already been targeted and you’ve agreed to transfer your pension, you should:
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