Steve Cook, IFA St Albans - Protect your pension from scammers

Thursday 27 April, 2017

Recommendations for individual pension clients

Steve Cook, independent financial adviser, St Albans and member of the St Albans financial planning team said: ‘The Pensions Regulator has issued five simple steps to follow if you want to invest your retirement savings to protect your pension from scammers.  Fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated in the methods they are using to trick people into giving pension money away.  We recommend our clients are particularly vigilant given the new pension freedoms & choice available. ‘

The five simple steps include:
1.    Act immediately if you think you have been scammed.  Call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or visit the TPAS website.
2.    If you are called about your pension hang up.  If you receive unsolicited emails, texts or phone calls they will normally be scams.  Often scammers claim to be representing recognised pension or government bodies.
3.    Be aware of any unregulated investments offering ‘guaranteed returns.’
4.    Any financial adviser you use should be registered with the FCA, and so should the company they represent.
5.    Research investments yourself, don’t take advice from anyone who is not FCA authorised

Recommendations for company pension scheme transfers

Steve Cook, independent pension adviser, and member of the St Albans financial planning team said:

'If a scheme member is asking for a scheme transfer, make sure you visit www.pensionscams.com and review their scheme transfer checklist as it helps you learn more about the receiving scheme and how the member came to make the request.’

In March 2017, Simon Hawker, independent financial adviser, St Albans reviewed - ‘How to protect yourself against an investment scam.’  Read the scam letter that a Lonsdale Wealth Management client received in 2015 in Simon Hawker, IFA St Albans - Be aware of scam financial letters, texts and emails.

Financial Fraud Action UK recently held a Scam Academy and asked celebrities Carol Vorderman, Donna Air and Rufus Hound to take part in a national campaign to help consumers and businesses stop fraud.  They were shown techniques used by scammers to trick you into giving away financial information and were told what to watch for to keep them safe from fraud.  The three films cover phone, email and text scams. They can be accessed via the Hertfordshire Constabulary website 

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