How to avoid pension scams

The new pensions freedom rules have attracted the attention of scammers. Piper Terrett explains what you need to watch out for.

Savers may be celebrating the new pensions freedom rules that give them more control over their money and easier access to their pots, but it seems that fraudsters are already taking full advantage too. According to the City of London Police, £4.7m of UK pension money was "lost to pension liberation fraud" in May a jump of 235% on the £1.4m stolen in April, notes FT Money.

The scam artists are thought to be deliberately targeting the over-55s. That's the age at which you can now access your pension pot and cash in the whole thing, should you so desire (though given the tax you're likely to have to pay, it's not a sensible option for most).

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Piper Terrett is a financial journalist and author. Piper graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge, in 1997 and worked for Germaine Greer and for Adam Faith’s Money Channel before embarking on a career in business journalism. 

She has worked for most top financial titles, including Investors Chronicle, Shares magazine, Yahoo! Finance and MSN Money. She lectures part-time at London Metropolitan University and is the author of four books.