Pension scams

As you are already receiving payment of your Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pension, you are not at risk from most pension scams. This is because scams usually happen when you transfer pensions to a new pension scheme. You cannot transfer your LGPS pension now that you’ve started to receive it.

To protect your LGPS pension, you could consider:

• Keeping your bank cards and details safe so that you do not fall victim of bank fraud. This is when scammers take money out of your account without your consent
• Taking care who you give your personal details to, for example name, date of birth, or national insurance number. This will help avoid identity theft
• Checking carefully before investing your money in things such as property or business opportunities, to make sure they’re genuine

If you still have pensions elsewhere that you haven’t started to receive yet, you should stay aware of pension scams.

It’s important to make sure you can spot the warning signs of a pension scam. Some scammers’ tactics include:

• Offering free pension reviews or health checks
• Promising better returns on savings
• Suggesting you try to take your pension benefits before age 55
• Promoting tax loopholes, pension loans or upfront cash
• Forcing you to act quickly with tight deadlines or once-only deals
• Contacting you out of the blue.

In particular, cold calling about pensions is against the law. No company should contact you about your pension unless you have asked them to.

Once you have transferred your pension into a scam it’s too late. You could end up losing all your pension savings. In some cases, you may also face a tax bill of 55% of the value of the pension you transferred.

To make sure you don’t get scammed, follow these four simple steps:

Step 1: Reject unexpected offers

If you’re contacted out of the blue about a pension opportunity, the chances are it’s high risk or a scam.

If you get a cold call about your pension, the safest thing to do is to hang up. It’s illegal and probably a scam. If you get texts or emails you’re not expecting, ignore them. Report nuisance calls and messages to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Watch out for offers of free pension reviews. Professional advice on pensions is not free.

Don’t let someone you know, even a friend or family member, talk you into anything. They could be getting scammed themselves. Check everything yourself.

Step 2: Check who you’re dealing with

Check that anyone offering you advice or other financial services is on the Financial Services Register. This means that the Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA, have authorised them to provide those services. If you need help checking, you can call FCA’s helpline on 0800 111 6768.

Make sure any firm you deal with is not a clone: that is, they’re pretending to be a genuine FCA authorised firm. Always use the contact details on the Financial Service Register, not the details the firm gives you.

Check the directors’ names and whether the firm is registered with Companies House. Search the company name and the directors’ names to see if others have posted any concerns.

You can also check the FCA warning list of companies to avoid: they’ve been reported for offering financial services in the UK without approval from the FCA.

Step 3: Don’t be rushed or pressured

Take your time to make all the checks you need. Be wary of promises of higher value pensions that sound too good to be true.

Step 4: Get impartial information or advice

You should think about getting financial guidance or advice before taking any action about your pension.