Pension scams have cost victims more than £26.4m between 2020 and 2022, a freedom of information request from the Pensions Management Institute (PMI) has revealed.

The data from the City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau revealed that between 2020 and 2022, there were 1,595 reported pension scams in England and Wales, equating to an average loss of approximately £16,500.

2020 saw the highest number of pension scams reported at 668, although 2021 saw the highest financial loss across pension scams, at around £10m.

The 1,595 reported cases were split between 400 examples of scams made on members, 1,185 cases of pensions liberation fraud and 10 cases of pension fraud by pensioners.

As part of Pension Awareness week, the PMI is encouraging schemes and members to remain alert to potential scams. The cost-of-living crisis means more pension scheme members may be interested in accessing their savings early. This could leave these members vulnerable to scams.

PMI President Robert Wakefield, described the scale of pension scams, in terms of both the number of cases and the amount of money involved, as "truly horrifying".

“These statistics show that in spite of the best efforts of those managing our pension schemes, the scourge of scams continues to ruin the lives of so many people," he continued.

“Clearly the cost-of-living crisis has made many people desperate for cash to meet short-term requirements and it is sobering to note that so many have been prepared to access pension savings early at the cost of longer-term security.

“Tragically, it is also very clear that in spite of tight regulatory constraints scammers remain able to deceive members in order to steal their accrued pension savings.

"The clear lesson for us all is that extreme vigilance remains essential. This problem will never go away, but we must redouble our efforts to keep it to a minimum.”

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