On average, just over a quarter (29 per cent) of pension fraud reports are sent for police investigation, a freedom for information request from Quilter has revealed.

The data revealed that less than a third (1,173) of the nearly 4,006 pension fraud reports submitted to Action Fraud over the past eight years were disseminated to local police forces for investigation by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB).

However, the figures showed a significant variation across the past eight years, as whilst in some years the number of pension fraud reports that were sent to the police for investigation was as low as 6 per cent, 2020 saw this figure rise to 66 per cent.

Most recently, 2022 saw 30 per cent of the 420 pension reports disseminated to the police, down from 34 per cent in 2021.

Action Fraud also confirmed that while some losses can run into the millions, the average loss to each victim is around £75,000.

However, Quilter clarified that estimating an accurate average can prove difficult as many victims are unaware they have fallen victim to a fraud.

In light of the findings, Quilter urged government to do more to tackle the threat of pension scams by making it harder for the criminals to operate and reach potential victims.

In particular, the firm called on the government to make faster progress with the Online Safety Bill, which was due to have already been introduced to parliament but has faced a number of recent delays.

Quilter head of retirement policy, Jon Greer, stated: “Unfortunately, especially during economically difficult times, scammers thrive as hard-working people get their heads turned by too good to be true deals.

"These figures show that over the past few years, as finances have been stretched, many more scams have had to be passed on to local forces for investigation. This shows why it is important that the government's new strategy gets a grip on fraud.

“Sadly, because pensions are for the long term it can be years before victims realise they have been scammed and their money has gone. Once they are uncovered pension scams are extremely complex, they can span multiple jurisdictions.

"This all makes investigating the scams incredibly time consuming and expensive, which is why the police have to prioritise those few cases where they have a chance of success.

“The pension transfer regulations brought in 2021 have had a positive impact on highlighting scams. However, even with those regulations in place scams are still being perpetrated making the Online Safety Bill an important piece of the puzzle.

“Getting retribution for a pension scam can be tricky so we should be going to the root of the problem and that starts with getting the Online Safety Bill over the line. The government continue to risk people losing their life savings while this legislation stalls.”

The call for action also follows the launch of a new government plan to tackle fraud, which will ban cold calls on all financial products, so that anyone who receives calls trying to sell them products such as crypto currency schemes or insurance will know it’s a scam.

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