The coronavirus pandemic has created the “perfect conditions” for pension scammers to operate, Aegon has warned.

Aegon head of pensions, Kate Smith, said that scammers were “enticing” people with promises of lucrative investment returns in the current environment of historically low interest rates and falling stock market.

“Pension savers need to be ever vigilant to the threat of scammers, who constantly look for new ways to take advantage and part people from their hard earned pensions,” she noted.

“Anything to keep the risk of pension scams at the front of people’s minds is to be welcomed.”

Smith's comments come in response to the creation of an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) to boost the public's awareness of the risk of pension scams.

The group, spearheaded by former Pensions Minister Baroness Ros Altmann, held its first meeting earlier this week (16 March).

The APPG hopes to give scam victims better support systems to deal with the consequences of pension scams and to discuss ways it can protect the public by developing policy initiatives.

Concluding, Smith commented: “We need to amplify the message with frequent messages about potential scams and reminders that pension cold-calling is illegal in order to keep people’s pensions safe.

“By working together we can all do our bit to help make this happen.”

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