The Government is to crackdown on pension scammers.
The move comes after figures show that fraudsters tricked savers out of around £5m in the first half of the year. Since 2014, Government figures suggest that since mid-April, a total of nearly £44m has been conned out of unsuspecting people.
The crackdown will include bans on cold-calls, emailing and texting. Legitimate contact will be still be allowed, where the customer requests information, or where an existing relationship already exists.
The Information Commissioner’s Office is to act as enforcer.
Guy Opperman, the Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, said: “Today’s figures highlight the extent to which people’s savings are being targeted and stolen through elaborate hoaxes – leaving them with little opportunity to build up their savings again. That is why we are introducing tough new measures for those who scam.”
Nathan Long, Senior Pension Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, commented: “The Government’s two pronged attack on scammers not only puts a hurdle in the way of contacting would be retirees, it also limits the options for scammers to get their hands on hard earned pension savings.
“Clamping down on calls, texts and e-mails won’t stop the scammers, but it sends a loud and clear message to be on your guard if you are contacted out of the blue. The golden rule with pension planning is if something appears too good to be true, it almost certainly is.
“Making pension schemes harder to set up and ensuring transfers only proceed to appropriately regulated schemes will all help to blunt the damage that scammers can inflict moving forward, but pension savers must remain vigilant.”
