The pensions industry has welcomed the regulators’ new joint initiative to raise awareness of pension scams, emphasising the need for greater consumer support and protection amid the ongoing pandemic.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and The Pensions Regulator (TPR) revealed today (26 August) that scammers have claimed over £30m lost to scams since April 2017, launching a campaign focusing on football fans to support their understanding.

The campaign was launched after research found that 43 per cent of supporters do not know how much is in their pension pot, and that 45 per cent do not know whether an approach about their pension is legitimate.

The move has been broadly welcomed by industry experts, who have emphasised the need for the industry to work together to support consumers against pension scams amid the pandemic.

Pensions Management Institute (PMI) president, Lesley Carline, stated: “As the economy slumps into recession, the temptations offered by scammers represent as great a threat as ever.

“Pension scams ruin lives and we are keen to work with everyone involved in pension provision to help ensure that the public remains well-informed and vigilant. Together, we can show scammers the red card.”

Scottish Widows pensions expert, Angie Kirkwood, added that fraudsters have “no issue with using a global pandemic to trick victims” into handing over their life savings, urging savers not to rush into transferring cash, “no matter how tempting” an investment opportunity may seem.

Echoing this, PensionBee CEO, Romi Savova, noted that pension scams have been “rife”, particularly in the wake of the pandemic, agreeing that savers should not feel “pressurised” into rushing to complete a transfer.

She added: “As an industry we also need to do our bit to educate people. There is a wealth of information available, and with so many scams moving online, we’ve decided to create our own online game to raise awareness of scams in an engaging way.

“It is by learning how scammers operate that we’ll put an end to their ploys.”

Duff & Phelps’ Compliance and Regulatory Consulting Practice managing director, Mark Turner, described the campaign as a “timely” move considering scammers are "taking advantage" of the Covid-19 situation.

Turner welcomed the campaign as a “sustained effort by the FCA” to help the public, aiming to reach individuals that “it might otherwise be hard for them to connect with, which should be “commended”.

However, Buck UK head of knowledge resource centre, Gary Crockford, described the statistics as “nothing new”, arguing that the “vital message” of being protected against scams still doesn’t seem to be getting through to savers.

This was echoed by Pinsent Masons partner, Ben Fairhead, who emphasised that whilst the campaign should be welcomed, a change to legislation allowing trustees to block transfers to schemes that seem fraudulent is needed to “stamp out” pension scams.

He continued: “New legislation is working its way through parliament that will change the long-established ‘statutory right to a transfer’ that pension scheme members have.

"However, it will take time for this to come into effect and, until then, there is a sense that fraudsters are one step ahead.”

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