MONEY
SWINDLER’S LIST
With recent pension reforms leading to conmen buying and selling the financial details of
thousands of people, Anthony Luzio finds out how to avoid becoming a victim
A
lthough The Daily Mail is
not exactly synonymous
with the phrase “a force for
good”, it received numerous and
well-deserved plaudits for a recent
expose showing that sensitive
details of pension pots were being
sold to conmen for as little as 5p.
The investigation was published
just days before the implementation
of government reforms giving
2
anyone aged over 55 the chance to
cash in their pension pot – allowing
them to access huge sums of money
that was previously locked away.
Unfortunately, these reforms
appear to have given the green light
to fraudsters who admit to targeting
vulnerable pensioners. One of
them told an undercover reporter
from The Daily Mail about how
he exploited the recently bereaved
and people who had fallen on hard
times.
“There can be no hotter data,” he
said. “They’re vulnerable.”
But how can you stop yourself
becoming a victim?
Chris Wise, investment director
of