PLANNING
Fraud: A word of caution
Before you make any decision about your pension, the first thing you need to do is ensure
you don’t fall victim to a scam.
Unfortunately, one of the first consequences of the
new pension freedoms was a tripling in the amount of
money lost to pension fraud – the figure rose from
£1.4m in April 2015 to £4.7m in May when the reforms
were implemented, with the average victim losing
£60,500.
It is also important to ensure that the person you are
dealing with works for a reputable company – you can
do this by checking they are on the FCA register, which
is available on the organisation’s website.
However, while falling victim to a scam can be easier
than you think, protecting yourself against an attack is
just as simple.
There is one final piece of advice that should be
applied to all potential investments, not just the
ones you think could be a scam:
One of the most straightforward methods of
protecting yourself is to refuse to discuss details of your
pension with cold callers – an unsolicited phone call is
still the fraudsters’ favourite method of contacting
potential victims.
If something sounds too good
to be true, it probably is.
Another common feature of many types of scam is
pressuring you into making a quick decision before you
have time to realise something is wrong. Decisions
about something as important as your retirement
savings should not be taken on the spur of the moment
and in any case, aside from using up your ISA allowance
ahead of the end of the financial year, there are few
events related to financial planning that require an
immediate decision. At the very least, take a step back
and confer with friends, family, or even an IFA, who
usually do not charge for an initial consultation. If
someone is putting pressure on you to make an
immediate decision, however, it is usually a good sign
that something is wrong and the best course of action
may be to walk away.
Key points
www.fca.org.uk/register
Pensions fraud has been on the increase since
the new freedoms were introduced
Don’t get harried into quick decisions,
especially by cold-callers
Check out any potential pension providers you
are considering on the Financial Conduct
Authority’s register
......
....................................
.
.....
. .. . .
.. .
.. ...
..
Page 8
. .....
......
.... . . ........... .... . ...
. ......
.. .
. ...
....
..... ......
.
.. . . . . . . ..
.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...
.............................
.
.
.
.. .