Financial Scams - How To Spot a UK Pension Scam

Ignore any contact you receive out of of the blue about your pension. This could be in person, online, on the phone or in the post

Watch out for any promotion offering you more than 8% return on your pension investment.

Be wary of any offer to access your pension before 55. Accessing your pension early can mean you are hit with a high tax bill of 55%, as well as losing any pension savings in a scam.

Don’t feel pressured to make a decision about your pension straight away, instead take your time.

Watch out for extravagant sounding investments based overseas.

Check the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) online register to make sure the company approaching you is legitimate. Anyone giving financial advice should be registered.

If you are making an investment, check the FCA ScamSmart warning list for known investment scams.

If you are transferring a pension, ask your current pension provider to check the HMRC registration of the new scheme to check it is legitimate.

• Action Fraud: If you suspect a fraud, report it to the UK’s national fraud and internet crime reporting centre, Action Fraud on 0300 1232040.

• The Pensions Advisory Service: Offers free and impartial guidance on pensions and will tell you how to spot a scammer.

• Pension Wise: Over-55s who want to take advantage of new pension freedoms can make a face-to-face or phone appointment with the Government's free guidance service on 0800 802 1345, or call 44 20 3733 3495 if you live outside the

• UK Pension Tracing Service: Some scammers will offer to help you find lost pensions but the Government will offer free help. Take care if you do an online search for the Pension Tracing Service as many companies using similar names will pop up in the results. These will also offer to look for your pension, but try to charge or flog you other services, and could be fraudulent.

The FSA website is always a good place to start due diligence: www.fsa.gov.uk/

How to Avoid  Scams & Perform Due Diligence of Companies & Investments

If unsure about an investment, you can call the Consumer Direct helpline …on 0845 404 0506 for advice or visit www.consumerdirect.gov.uk. To report suspected fraud call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or visit http://www.actionfraud.police.uk

Check the FCA  "ScamSmart" website for information about scam investments and how not to get caught out or folled in the first place. It also contains a warning list so that you can catch individual companies before investing.

Vetting financial advisors

First port of call:.. Google and the FCA Financial Services Register. Google the advisor's name. You will hopefully see lots references. In particular a LinkedIn profile where you can tally the information the advisor has given you via phone or email and get a view of the advisors professional history.

You may also see Facebook profiles etc. Again this gives you more clues that this person is real and being honest about who they are. Their website could have a photo which you can compare to Facebook and LinkedIn. 

You should hopefully see a profile on some kind on IFA directory or network such as: -

http://www.totalinvestor.co.uk/i/

Check companies on Companies House

You should be able to find the basic details of companies and directors including some financial data. You may also see posts they have made on popular finance forums using their full name as there posting name or in a displayed email. Again this is all positive evidence. They may have profiles on business networking sites or other business related social media networks .

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/companies-house

Types of Scams

The more traditional scams includes boiler room scams and recovery room scams. These often start with a cold call which is a big tell-tale sign.