Who is protecting your future – part 3
Pensions – is your money safe and secure?
In this series of articles, we will try to explain your options and clear some of the minefields for you.
We are not pension advisors – we are accountants. We do not sell pensions and have no vested interest, other than helping our clients protect themselves financially.
So far we have looked at the basics and the types of pension arrangements available. So the whole idea of pensions is to protect your financial future. But how do you know your money is safe and who can you trust to look after your hard earned funds.
A recent report in The Times newspaper revealed that savers “…are being tricked out of half a million pounds every day after a surge in criminals targeting British pension riches…” The report continues that almost £200 million has been stolen by investment fraudsters over the past year – and that this figure is thought to be understated because many victims are too ashamed to report the extent of their losses, in some cases over £250,000.
In this article, we look at how some of these scams have operated and what you should do to protect yourself.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the industry regulator and chief watchdog. It has investigated over 150 attempts to clone companies in the last year – including well-known names such as Halifax, and Hambro. Fraudsters have been approaching older savers, particularly since increased pension investment freedom allowed people over 55 to gain access to and switch their pension pots.
Cold callers target investors to promote shares, property and other opportunities that in reality turn out to be non-existent. The FCA says that clone fraudsters use the name, registration number, and address of established businesses to make out they are genuine. Then they give their own phone numbers and website details to the “victims”.
And they are clever. Well quite clever. They often copy the genuine website obviously making changes such as the phone number listed. On one reported occasion last year they even cloned a Hambro site and impersonated a senior Hambro fund manager.
The FCA updates its website with warnings about cloned companies on a regular basis. It says that the fraudsters are hard to tackle because most are based outside the UK and the websites are hosted overseas. Any British address they claim to work from are bogus and bank accounts they use are overseas.
Another scam is the pension review cold call. Victims are contacted by phone, but also by email, letter and even through seminars. The fraudster offers free investment advice designed to persuade the victim to reinvest funds with them.
How can you be sure who you are dealing with?
A lot of this will, of course, be common sense, and equally apply to other scams where people claim to be representing banks or HMRC.
- Don’t deal with people you don’t know – check them out
- Where you have been introduced, still do your own checks
- If you receive a message to call someone – check the number on the businesses website. Do a web search. Do NOT click on a link in an email you receive – that will likely take you to a cloned site.
- If you are unsure about the firm – check on the FCA website. Use the details on the FCA register to call someone back.
- Do NOT use a link in an email to contact the FCA website! That could also link to a cloned site. Search and access the FCA directly. Or call the FCA.
- Deal with an FCA registered firm
None of this should stop you investing. Or looking for advice. It is important that you do invest for the time later in your life when you will need funds to live on, support you, or as a buffer. But do it safely and make sure you don’t get caught out.
Going forward we will look at how different generic pension arrangements work and what is best for SME’s and self-employed
For further advice existing clients email us at support@anytime.uk.com or call 03333 110 230
For new enquiries contact us now
Related Blog
Who is protecting your future – part 2
What sort of pension is right for you? In a series of articles, we will try to explain your options and clear some of the minefields for you. We are not pension advisors – we are accountants. We do not sell pensions and have no vested interest, other than helping our clients protect themselves financially. — Read more
