NUMBER OF PENSION SCAMS LURING PEOPLE WITH PROMISE OF HIGHER INVESTMENT RETURNS DOUBLES

The latest Pension Scam Assessment analysis from helpandadvice.co.uk, has revealed that the number of people being lured to transfer a pension to achieve higher than average investment returns virtually doubled to 23% between September and December compared to 12% in the previous quarter.

The research, undertaken between September and December 2023, saw 2012, the highest ever number of Pension Scam Assessments (as recommended by Money Helper, provided by the government’s Money & Pensions Service ‘MaPS’) completed.

The average scam potential score also rose to 23% from 19% the previous quarter. While a red flag does not necessarily mean that it is definitely a scam, it does indicate an issue that could be of concern.

Where unsolicited approaches are made, email still remains the most popular method, with 3% of people being approached this way. There was a sharp increase in people not being able to find a physical address listed on an advisor’s website, up from 4% in the previous quarter to 15% saying nothing was obviously visible.

There was also an increase in the number of people told by their advisor that any support was time limited, indicating that people were being asked to make a quick decision.