A new joint online social media campaign has been launched today by the Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) and the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to help raise awareness about the risk and consequences of pension scams.
The campaign highlights the need for retirees to protect their pensions and the processes scammers use to get their hands on their savers and information.
The campaign is being led by TPAS and the ABI, and is also supported by a range of consumer groups and key stakeholders. It will primarily be promoted on Twitter alongside some Facebook and Linkedin promotion, an ABI spokeswomen told The Actuary.
To support the Financial Futures campaign, the industry bodies said, follow @TPASnews and @BritishInsurers, using the #protectyourpension hashtag.
To accompany the online campaign, an infographic has been developed providing a look at the 'hooks' and 'hustle' techniques scammers use and say, and what the real life consequences are.
The infographic also provides the top five tips on how to avoid being scammed and what to do if you're not sure about what's being offered or who to contact if you think you're already a target.
Michelle Cracknell, TPAS chief executive, said pension scams were becoming more prevalent.
Yvonne Braun, ABI's head of savings, retirement and social care added: 'ABI members are helping to prevent innocent people falling victim, reporting suspicious transfers to the enforcement agencies. The industry continues to work closely with government, regulators and The Pensions Advisory Service to help protect savers from these scams.'
In July last year, the Pensions Regulator refreshed its hard-hitting Scorpion campaign to tackle the nearly-£500m pension liberation scam problem. Following this, in November, it shut down five pension liberation schemes, which together received transfers totalling more than £134m from over 1,400 individuals.