On the consultation to ban cold calling

by | Nov 23, 2016

Share this article

Facebook Open Graph

On the consultation to ban cold calling Kate Smith, Head of Pensions at Aegon said:

“We’re pleased the Chancellor has committed to a consultation banning cold calling before the end of the year. Perhaps the most valuable aspect of a ban would be the awareness that it will bring to consumers, people should not be phoning them out of the blue about their pension. The true extent of pension fraud is unknown, and some people may not realise they have fallen victim to a scam for some time. Once a scam has taken place it’s almost impossible to get the money back.  The proposed  ban on cold calling is a major step forward but we hope the consultation gives room to tackle related frauds via  texts and emails which are other common techniques used to try  to part people from their hard-earned cash. Scams are constantly evolving as soon as you remove one fraud method, another variant on the old scheme pops up. A ban on cold calling won’t be foolproof, but at least it will put more people on their guard and criminalise those who make the calls. People should remember the old adage, if something looks too good to be true it probably is.

“Fraudsters try to groom their victims making it difficult for providers to raise concerns with their customers about suspicious transfers or tipping off the fraudster. Giving providers more powers to block suspicious transfers is something we’ve long-called for and will protect customers from future scams, but the devil will be in the detail.”

 
 

Share this article

Related articles

Sign up to the IFA Magazine Newsletter

Trending articles

IFA Talk logo

IFA Talk is our flagship podcast, that fits perfectly into your busy life, bringing the latest insight, analysis, news and interviews to you, wherever you are.

IFA Talk Podcast - listen to the latest episode

x