“Fraudster families” running multimillion pound pension scams

Fraudulent Teams And Families Running Deceitful Investment Schemes 

Prompted by monetary gains, certain families are involved in malicious activities of committing financial frauds. In 2021 Q1, 107 reports of pension review crimes were made, although the actual scale of such incidents remained much higher than the proclaimed. 

In addition, intelligence gathered by the criminal investigators found multiple gangs operating in the field. As a result, several individuals linked to it were suspended or banned from becoming trustees or forming companies. 

How Does It Happen?

Organisations in such activities hire specialists who are experts in pension, accountancy and are knowledgeable advisors. They are professionals who appear authorised and proficient. The sales teams are set up to cold call the clients who offer free pension reviews and lure victims by promising huge capital returns.  

How To Avoid It?

• The pension providers have been advised to check suspicious fund transfer requests from an account and send alerts against it where they suspect any scam. 

• People are advised to take time and make careful decisions regarding long term / short term investments. In addition, the clients have been asked to refuse unsolicited calls from anonymous callers who promise to get huge returns. 

• Cold calls have been banned for pension reviews, and firms who break the rules are at a risk of facing penalties of up to half a million pounds.  Also, the public should reject those callers who use high-pressure tactics to sell their products. You should use secure systems to access emails or post messages on social media platforms. 

In some cases, the gangs operating the pretended schemes hire rogue financial experts who may know the risks, but they do not inform the investors about it. 

As a result, the trustees and administrators have been asked to identify people falling victims by spotting the suspicious requests. Also, the regulatory bodies released advisory to help people understand how they function. 

How To Protect Yourself?

• You should always research before modifying your pension arrangements and check the FCA register to ensure the firm you are dealing with is authorised and allowed to deal in pension funds. 

• Most scams start with cold calling, where they offer free reviews and promise to get higher returns than the one you are getting.  If you get any such call, hang up the phone. 

• Beware of teams asking to access your savings in the pension account. They only expect to get a fee from the client for the non-existent plans.

• Beware of the recovery plan where unauthorised companies offer to help you trace your lost money or get a pension statement. Government agencies do not authorise these firms, and the fraudsters may charge a huge fee for the services they never provide.