Don’t get caught out by pension scams!
Clifford Osborne Limited is Financial Conduct Authority Authorised and Regulated to give investment advice that is unbiased, comprehensive and in a client’s best interest.
HOW NOT TO BE NEXT
If you’re thinking about how to invest your retirement savings, follow these ten steps to protect your pension from pension scams and fraud.
1. Be wary of cold calls and unsolicited texts or emails. Scammers will often claim they’re from Pension Wise or other government-backed bodies. These organisations would never phone or text to offer a pension review.
2. Check everything for yourself. People have fallen for scams because they’d been ‘recommended by a friend’. Do your homework, even if you consider yourself to be financially savvy – false confidence can lead to getting stung.
3. Make sure your adviser is on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approved register. Pension scammers may pose as financial advisers. Check to make sure yours is FCA registered at www.fca.org.uk/register.
4. Check the FCA’s list of known scams. Visit www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart to see if the deal you’re being offered is a known scam.
5. Steer clear of overseas investment ‘deals’. Well-known scam types include unregulated investment in a hotel, vineyard or other overseas opportunity, and where your money is all in one place – and therefore more at risk.
6. Don’t fall for ‘guaranteed’ returns or professional looking websites or brochures. You can never guarantee returns on an investment, and anyone can create a smart website or brochure these days. Question everything, however credible it sounds or looks.
7. Don’t be rushed into a decision. Scammers will try to pressure you with ‘time limited offers’ or send a courier to your door to wait while you sign documents. Take your time to make all the checks you need – even if this means turning down an ‘amazing’ deal.
8. If you’re aged 50 or over and have a DC (defined contribution) pension, talk to Pension Wise. Pension Wise is there to help you investigate your retirement options. Visit www.pensionwise.gov.uk for more information (and to check what kind of pension you have).
9. Ask the Pensions Advisory Service for help. You can call them on 0300 123 1047 or visit www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk for free pensions advice and information.
10. Contact your provider and call Action Fraud if you think you’ve been scammed If you’ve already signed something you’re now unsure about, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 and contact your pension provider immediately. They may be able to stop a transfer that hasn’t taken place yet.
DON’T GET STUNG!
Clifford Osborne are Independent Financial Advisors (IFA) based in Eastbourne, East Sussex, offering pension planning advice, mortgage advice, pension scams advice and more. You can read our VoucherFor reviews here. Our clients often come from Uckfield, Lewes, Brighton, Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Bexhill, Newhaven, Seaford, Crowborough and further afield.
