Losses due to pension scams more than tripled to nearly £5m in the month after the pension reforms took effect as liberation scams tripled, new figures suggest.
Figures revealed by City of London police showed that in May £4.7m was reported to Action Fraud as being lost by members of the public.

It rose from £1.45m in April and was roughly three times more than the highest figure since March 2013 £1.6m in October 2013 Anti-scam officials said, however, that it would be premature to be drawing definitive conclusions about the level of this crime and the recent changes to retirement income legislation.

City of London police said: “The monthly loss figures are not representative of the threat of this fraud type. The figures are extremely varied due to the nature of the fraud, whereby victims will have varying amounts of money in their pension pot.

“With regards to the recent pension reforms and the affect that this will have on Pension Liberation fraud, it is at this stage difficult to draw any conclusions; this is because it can sometimes be months or even years after the crime, that the victim realises that they have been defrauded.”

Figures are subject to change as auditing processes will continue in the future.

The Pensions Regulator has, meanwhile, stepped up its on-going Scorpion campaign as part of Scams Awareness Month.

Lesley Titcomb, chief executive of The Pensions Regulator, said: “The people behind pension scams are shape shifters.

“They are sophisticated and well organised so we have to be resourceful, tenacious and work collaboratively with Government, law enforcement and other agencies to educate the public, disrupt the activities of scammers and take legal action where necessary. There is no single organisation or agency which can tackle scams alone

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“Consumers have their part to play by arming themselves with the facts. In addition Pension scheme trustees should be warning members to be vigilant and informed as to the dangers of potential scams. Trustees can play their part by directing savers to Scorpion material, helping their members to recognise the hallmarks of scams and how to protect themselves.

A new video has been produced by the regulator in which Ms Titcomb talks about how members can help protect themselves.

Guidance has been made available for pension scheme trustees, including a check list of scam hallmarks, and the campaign signposts to a new code of good practice that sets out due diligence processes to combat pension scams.