Two in five Citizens Advice pensions staff have seen people targeted repeatedly with pension scams.
The organisation has revealed this morning how widespread fraudsters appear to be operating since it got involved with the Pension Wise scheme.

One in ten staff saw people who had either responded or fallen prey to a scam. Half of local Citizens Advice pension workers said they thought that pension scams were evolving into investment scams, targeting the cash lump sums people can release from their pension pots.

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The full survey of more than 460 local Citizens Advice managers, staff, volunteers and Pension Wise guiders found that people were most likely to be contacted by cold call, followed by email. Of those who saw people who had been contacted by scammers:

• 4 in 5 said people were contacted by phone call
• 1 in 3 said people were contacted by email
• 1 in 3 said people were contacted by post
• 1 in 5 said people were approached by text message.

The body said that over 55s are being “repeatedly contacted with cold-calls and emails offering fraudulent pension opportunities”.

A further third of staff from across the service said they think that scams targeting the over 55s have increased.

Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “Pension scams threaten people’s financial security. People are being targeted again and again with bogus investment offers or fraudulent pension opportunities.

“Opportunistic fraudsters are finding new ways to go after people’s pension pots including offering free pension reviews and promising to invest in funds that don't necessarily exist.

“Pension and investment scams are particularly dangerous as they can destroy people’s entire pension pot, leaving them with little or no savings for retirement. We will be monitoring pension scams closely in order to track how they are evolving, and warn consumers what to look out for. If you’ve had an offer or signed up to a scheme you’re unsure about, contact Citizens Advice for support.”

Citizens Advice summarised the “emerging scams” seen by its team:

• Unspecified financial products: People are asked by fraudsters to give them access to their pension pots, who would then invest them into financial products on their behalf. Despite offering a high rate of return, scammers were unable to explain what the investments might be.
• Free pension reviews: People are texted or cold-called with offers of a free pension review. The caller then asks to visit the person in their own home, bringing paperwork that would allow them to get access to their pension details. One man responded to an internet ad for a free pension review, filled in his details, and was visited by someone claiming to be an Independent Financial Adviser who couldn’t describe any investments.
• Investments for pension cash: People are approached with offers to invest their pension cash into products such as property overseas or fine wines. One investment scam featured two salesmen - one who visited the potential customer to get access to his pension details, and a second to encourage him to invest his pension and any other savings into property in South America.