If you hold a pension, statistics revealed by Action Fraud could make for alarming reading. According to its latest figures, released in September 2025, more than £48,000 was lost to pension scams every day in 2024.
In total, more than £17.5 million was stolen by criminals, who are using increasingly sophisticated methods to target people’s pension pots. When you consider that retirement funds may be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, you can see why unscrupulous criminals are keen to steal them.
According to the article, the two most common ways scammers targeted victims was through investment fraud or taking over pension schemes by impersonating the policy holder.
If you are worried about being contacted by a scammer, there are actions you can take to help you sidestep a decision you later regret. Losing some or all of your pension savings can be a traumatic experience and may mean you can no longer afford the lifestyle you want in retirement.
With this in mind, read on to discover how you could identify a fraudster if you’re contacted by one, and the actions you could take to help protect your retirement fund. Before you do, let’s look at three commonly used pension scams.
Pension liberation
If you have a defined contribution (DC) pension, you can typically access it when you reach the age of 55, or 57 from April 2028. Yet criminals will offer schemes that they claim will release your pension cash early.
What they’re unlikely to tell you is that accessing your pension before 55 is likely to result in significant tax charges, which could significantly reduce the value of your pension fund. Furthermore, fraudsters can charge extremely high fees of up to 30%, which will decrease the size of your pension pot further.
Free pension reviews
Fraudsters sometimes offer free pension reviews to advise you to transfer your pension into high-risk funds on the promise they will deliver higher returns. Fraudsters use this as it’s easy to mistake it for the legitimate free appointments offered by MoneyHelper, a government-backed service that provides impartial advice to over 50s.
Clone firm scams
This is where fraudsters establish firms that use the same name, address and firm reference number of real companies authorised by the FCA. They may even make a replica of any websites belonging to reputable and genuine companies.
According to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), there has been a dramatic increase in clone firm scams in recent years. For this reason, it’s important to ensure you’re talking to a bona fide financial adviser about your pension.
Please remember that this is not an exhaustive list of pension scams, and criminals are always looking for new ways to access policy holder’s money. Therefore, you should always be extremely careful when talking to anyone about your pension.
Scammers often use tricks that you can identify
While criminals are increasingly sophisticated in how they work, they typically rely on ‘tricks’ to lure you into their scam. The good news is that if you know what these tricks are, you can spot them and end any conversation you’re having.
The following are six that a scammer might use:
- try to prevent you calling them back
- offer you a ‘one-time’ investment, or one that’s ‘time-limited’
- put pressure on you to make a quick decision
- only provide a mobile phone or PO Box address for contact details
- claim to know of a tax ‘loophole’, or promises significant tax benefits
- offers high rates of growth or return with low (or no) risk
It’s important to note that in 2019 cold-calling about pensions was banned by the Government. This means that if you receive a call, text message email, or are contacted directly by someone who wants to discuss your pension, it’s likely to be a scam.
Genuine pension providers and financial advisers will never call you out of the blue.
If you are contacted by fraudsters, there are steps you can take
The following are actions that you can take if you believe you’re being contacted by scammers, which could ensure you do not fall victim to a scam:
- reject unsolicited calls, emails, text messages or visitors to your door
- ensure that the person or firm you’re dealing with is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and authorised to give pension advice
- check the FCA register of regulated companies and the FCA warning list
- if you’re transferring your pension, ask your current provider to check the new scheme's HMRC registration status to make sure it’s real and authorised
- check the internet and social media to see if complaints have been made about the adviser, firm or investment
- look at the FCA’s ScamSmart website
Get in touch
One of the best ways to protect yourself from pension scams is to talk to a bona fide financial adviser on the FCA register of regulated companies. As one of the UK’s largest independent financial advice companies, we can help you with your pension and provide peace of mind that you are talking to a company that puts your needs first.
Our advisers will explain your options using clear language so that you can plan for the retirement you want. If you would like to discuss your pension, please contact us on 0333 010 0008 and we’d be happy to arrange a no obligation initial meeting with one of our independent financial advisers.
19 November 2025