Consumers are increasingly unable to spot scams as criminals become more sophisticated.
Read on to find out how people are at risk from scams, and for advice on spotting the warning signs of pension fraud.
7.3 million have encountered pension scammers
Pension rule changes over the course of the last decade have provided more opportunities for fraudsters looking to steal your retirement savings.
Criminals are attempting to take advantage of the greater flexibility. According to LV=, approximately one in seven – or 7.3 million – UK adults have been the subject of an attempted pension scam in the past 12 months.
These people were encouraged via unsolicited calls, texts and emails to transfer or release money from their pension.
The research was conducted as part of the LV= Wealth and Wellbeing Research Programme, a quarterly survey based on the responses of 4,000 people.
How much do people lose?
Separate data from the Pensions Management Institute (PMI) show that pensions and investment scams cost victims more than £2.6bn in the 2020-2023 period.
The data from the City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau revealed that there were almost 100,000 victims of pensions and investment fraud between 2020 and 2023, with victims typically losing an average of £26,773 to scammers.
Part of the problem is the proliferation of small pots. Around six million adults have multiple pension pots, which increases the complexity of managing retirement savings.
Scams are becoming more difficult to spot
The LV= research also highlights how more people are succumbing to general financial fraud.
Overall, 6.9 million people were victims of fraud over the past 12 months, of which 3.8 million people lost money to a purchase scam.
Spotting scams is becoming more tricky. Over half of adults now say pension scams are harder to spot, and almost four in five (77%) say fraudsters have become more sophisticated with increasingly credible websites and other tools.
Fraudsters have several ways to snare you. Figures show that 42% of UK adults have received phishing scams in the past 12 months, just over a third (36%) have experienced a trusted organisation scam and around a quarter (24%) have experienced a refund scam.
Find out more:Pension scams: spot the signs
Understanding the different types of pension and investment scams, and the tactics employed by fraudsters, can help you better protect yourself from becoming a victim:
Pension cold calls are illegalforced to make a quick decisionpromises of low risk/high returns‘free pension review’release cash from your pensionContact information is important.How to report a pension scam
When people are targeted, relatively few know what to do. Only 32% of UK adults know how to report a suspected scam. However, for those who are clients of financial advisers, this figure rises to 55%.
Getting your money back if you lose cash via a pension scam might take some time, but you usually have some protection.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/millions-are-targeted-by-pension-scammers-abAW63u18cLC