Five fold increase in people seeking information about pension scams

Following an awareness campaign in the summer by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Pensions Regulator (TPR) there has been a huge increase in people visiting the FCA’s ScamSmart website, www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart.

The ScamSmart website allows you to find out more about avoiding scams, as well as check pension opportunities you may have been offered.

Before the awareness campaign, the average number of visits to ScamSmart website per day was 562, however after the campaign this increased to an average of 3,145 visits per day.

Research from the FCA shows that in just one year over 10 million UK adults received an unsolicited pension offer, and victims of pension scams last year lost an average of £91,000 each to scammers. In addition, new research suggests that 52% of 45-65 year olds with a pension do not think they are likely to be targeted by a pension scam. 21% thought they are too smart to be scammed and 18% thought they didn’t have enough money saved into their pension to be a target.

Nicola Parish, TPR’s executive director of frontline regulation, said: “The dramatic increase in the number of people visiting ScamSmart for information is very encouraging. Every pension holder is a potential scam victim so it’s vital that we continue spreading the word about scammers and how they operate to prevent more people handing over their funds to criminals.”

Head to www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart and see if you can spot an investment scam from a smart investment.