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Beware of Pension Scams
Pension freedom has enabled those approaching retirement to consider a much wider choice of alternative options as to how to employ the pension funds that they have accumulated through their careers.
However, unfortunately the introduction of such freedoms seems to have also attracted the interest of a number of undesirables and fraudsters.
A snapshot of the problem can be seen through the actions of the Insolvency Service. They detail on their website that they have applied to courts to wind-up 24 companies over the last three years where there has been evidence of them carrying out some form of pension misuse. The service indicates that there have been 3,750 victims of these 24 companies alone, and that the misconduct has resulted in individuals and businesses losing over £200m.
Common tactics used by pension scammers are cold calls, the offer of free pension advice, lying about their level of expertise and qualifications and the offer of considerable investment returns from the solutions that they offer.
It is worth noting at this point that cold calling related to pensions is now deemed illegal. Therefore, anyone making such an approach can automatically be dismissed as unethical. With individuals having taken forty or more years of hard work to accumulate such pension benefits it would seem right to take time to consider one’s options.
Individuals that continue to liaise with a known and trusted adviser to consider the appropriate options for their pension funds are likely to be better positioned to avoid pension or other forms of scammers.
If you would like to know more about further financial planning services we can offer please e mail or call us to discuss:
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