Pension scam losses hit an all-time high of £8.6million during March.
According to figures provided to the Financial Times from the City of London police, 24 victims reported losses during March, up from February where 12 individuals reported pension fraud at a total of £779,000.
It’s also the largest amount lost since £4.9 million was reported to have been lost in May 2015. Annually speaking, March’s figure is up by £3 million up compared to the corresponding month during 2016.
Since former chancellor George Osborne introduced the pension freedoms in April 2014, over £42 million has been lost to “pension liberation fraud”.
Those who fall victim to the scams will typically be conned into transferring pension funds into investments which do not provide the returns as promised or are simply non-existent.
Pensioners may also be unaware of the significant amount of tax owed if pension funds are released prior to reaching the age of 55.
Darren Cooke, a chartered financial planner from Red Circle Financial Planning, recently launched a petition urging the Government to consider banning pensions cold calling. A known technique used by fraudsters, cold-calling is a way to contact victims remotely, often elderly pensioners. Talking to the newspaper, Mr Cooke commented on the significant leap in reports of fraud, stating: “The rise is shocking. This is likely to be the tip of the iceberg.”
The government stated in November last year that bringing in a ban on cold-calling would “cut off a key source of pension scams”, as well as communicating a clear anti-fraud message to the wider public.
Following the announcement of the snap general election, however, the governmental response to a consultation on this exact issue has been postponed.
