Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
    • Moody's - Climate Risk Insurers series
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • July 2015
07

Taskforce urges public to be vigilant over pension scams 

Open-access content Monday 27th July 2015 — updated 5.13pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

A cross-government taskforce has warned savers to be vigilant about the threat scammers pose to their pensions.

2

The taskforce, named Project Bloom, is urging the public to "arm themselves" to spot cheats as part of scam awareness month. 

Scammers often contact victims "out of the blue" to offer them early access to their cash with promises or "get-rich-quick" schemes, according to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The DWP said two people "narrowly avoided handing over their retirement savings" after speaking to the Pension Advisory Service (TPAS). A man "came within a whisker" of handing over his entire pension pot of £90,000, but did not do so after checking with government services. 

In a separate case, a woman was harassed by scammers for more than six months. She signed a form to authorise information about her pension being released to scammers but stopped releasing further information after contacting TPAS.

Pensions minister Ros Altmann said: "The criminals behind this illegal activity often lay a sophisticated trap complete with glossy brochures and professional websites that make them look highly credible." 

Since Project Bloom was set up by regulators, financial services bodies and the UK government in 2013, 15 scam websites have been suspended and 70 domain names have been taken down.

The Pensions Regulator, which is investigating nine suspected cases of pension fraud, is also refreshing its ongoing Scorpion campaign today to help safeguard savers and trustees. 

Meanwhile, pensions advisers Portal Financial has reported 11 pension scam companies to Google this year. 

The firm said scams including offering pension releases to people under the age of 55 could appear in Google's search results, including in paid advertisements. 

It also noticed an increase in the number of pension scams people experienced around the time pension freedoms took effect in April, with a higher incidence the closer a person was to 55.

According to a study of 1,000 UK residents aged 55 and over, in the month leading up to the introduction of the pension freedoms, 39% of respondents received more pension-related calls. Of those, 45% were aged between 55 and 59, while less than a third were over 65. 

Jamie Smith-Thompson, managing director at Portal Financial, said firms who offered scams often sounded "very convincing" and some had customer reviews. 

He advised people to "look closely" at the sites as some firms even say they are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). 

"If they do not display an FCA number then they are not regulated. Unregulated firms cannot be reported on the FCA website, so people often do not know what to do," he said.

This article appeared in our July 2015 issue of The Actuary.
Click here to view this issue
Filed in
07
Topics
Pensions

You might also like...

Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Environmental, Social and Governance- GI Actuary

England, London
£70000 - £170000 per annum
Reference
145888

Calling All Australian Actuaries

England, London
£50000 - £120000 per annum
Reference
145887

Calling all GI Actuaries looking to move into contracting

England, London
£700 - £1000 per day
Reference
145886
See all jobs »
 
 

Today's top reads

 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2023 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ