Better educated ‘most at risk’ of pension scams
New analysis by the FCA and The Pensions Regulator has revealed that university graduates were the most likely to be at risk of pension scammers.
Research for the FCA-TPR ScamSmart campaign found that 22 years worth of pension savings could be stolen by scammers in as little as 24 hours.
The research uncovered that:
• Nearly two-thirds (63%) of people would “trust” someone offering pensions advice out of the blue
• More highly educated people are more at risk
• On average scammed pension savers lost £82,000 in 2018 - 22 years of pension savings for some
The FCA and TPR are re-launching their ScamSmart campaign to encourage people to protect a lifetime of savings and be aware of the dangers, however educated or confident they are.
Survey analysis by the joint FCA-TPR ScamSmart campaign found that it could take 22 years for a saver to build a pension pot of £82,000 – the average amount victims lost to scams in 2018.
ScamSmart says the money can be stolen by scammers within 24 hours with almost 1 in 4 people (24%) surveyed admitting to taking 24 hours or less to decide on a pension offer.
Despite the threat, 63% say they would likely trust someone offering pensions advice out of the blue – one of the main warning signs of a scam.
Surprisingly, the more highly educated the person, the more likely they are to fall for a pension scam, says ScamSmart.
Those with a university degree are 40% more likely to accept a free pension review from a company they’ve not dealt with before and 21% more likely to take up the offer of early access to their pension pot.
Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “Pension scammers destroy those dreams, often forever.”
Nicola Parish, executive director of frontline regulation, TPR, said: “Pension scammers ruin lives, stealing away decades’ of savings with professional-looking websites, ‘expert’ advice and an easy manner making it tough to spot the fraud.”
Pension savers can now test how ScamSmart they are by taking a quiz on the ScamSmart site. Visit www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart .
• The data for the survey came from two Censuswide surveys of just over 2,000 adults carried out in June and October.