How to fight the fraudsters coming for your pension pot

Investment and pension scams have proliferated during lockdown. Here’s how to protect yourself.

Financial fraud has soared this year, with pension and investment scams especially rife. Since 2017 “almost £31m has been lost to pension scams,” reports The Times. Figures from Action Fraud show that it doesn’t matter what size your pension is, criminals will try to steal it. “Scammers targeted pensions worth as little as £1,000.”

Pension scams have many names. You may be told it is a pension loan, early pension-release, pension selling, cashing in your pension, or pension liberation. “These are all different names for essentially the same thing – an agreement to transfer your pension savings to something that allows you to access your funds before the age of 55,” says Which. Tapping your pension before that age is only legal under very limited circumstances. Your money is then invested in high-risk assets such as overseas property or renewable-energy bonds, with the scammers taking a hefty commission – or they simply steal it outright.

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Ruth Jackson-Kirby

Ruth Jackson-Kirby is a freelance personal finance journalist with 17 years’ experience, writing about everything from savings accounts and credit cards to pensions, property and pet insurance.

Ruth started her career at MoneyWeek after graduating with an MA from the University of St Andrews, and she continues to contribute regular articles to our personal finance section. After leaving MoneyWeek she went on to become deputy editor of Moneywise before becoming a freelance journalist.

Ruth writes regularly for national publications including The Sunday Times, The Times, The Mail on Sunday and Good Housekeeping, among many other titles both online and offline.