Policy & Research · By Sophie Lambourne, Financial Crime and Saver Protection Lead · Published 13 August 2026
The old image of a pension scam — a badly spelled email promising an exotic investment — is dangerously out of date. Today's fraud is polished. It comes with a professional website, a plausible adviser, genuine-looking regulatory references and a caller who is patient, friendly and in no hurry. That is precisely what makes it work.
A pension is often the largest sum of money a person will ever have outside their home. It is worth being blunt about how the people after it operate.
How a modern pension scam actually unfolds
Very few victims are reckless. Most are careful people who were approached at a moment when the offer sounded reasonable. The pattern is remarkably consistent:
- Contact you did not initiate. A call, text, social media message or online advert offering a free pension review.
- A convincing warm-up. Several friendly conversations that build trust before money is ever mentioned.
- An offer that beats the market. Guaranteed high returns, unusual investments such as overseas property, green energy projects or storage units.
- Early access to your money. Anything suggesting you can release a pension before 55 is, with rare exceptions, a scam and can trigger a punitive tax charge.
- Time pressure. A limited offer, a deadline, a bonus for deciding today. Urgency is the tell.
- Discouraging advice. Being steered away from Pension Wise, an independent adviser or your existing provider.
The warning signs, in one list
- You were contacted out of the blue.
- Returns are described as guaranteed. Investment returns never are.
- You are asked to transfer quickly, or to sign documents you have not read.
- The adviser is not on the Financial Conduct Authority register — check it directly, never through a link they send you.
- You are offered a cash incentive, a loan or early release.
- Something feels rushed. Pause. A legitimate opportunity survives a week's thought.
What we do behind the scenes
Protecting savers is not only a matter of good advice; most of the work happens before a member ever sees a risk. When a transfer request reaches us, it goes through due diligence designed to catch the patterns above: checking the receiving scheme, looking for the statutory amber and red flags set out in transfer regulations, identifying unregulated investments and overseas destinations, and pausing anything that does not add up.
Where a red flag is present we are required to stop the transfer. Where an amber flag appears, the member must take guidance from MoneyHelper before it can proceed. That can feel frustrating when you are certain your transfer is genuine. We would rather cause a week of inconvenience than release a lifetime's savings to a criminal.
Alongside that we invest in fraud monitoring, secure member authentication, and staff trained to recognise when a caller is being coached by someone else in the room. Because we are not-for-profit, none of this is weighed against a margin. It is simply part of looking after the money.
If you think you have been targeted
- Stop all contact immediately. Do not send further documents or payments.
- Contact us directly using the number on our website, not one supplied to you.
- Report it to Action Fraud and to the FCA.
- Get free, impartial guidance from MoneyHelper or Pension Wise.
- Tell someone. Embarrassment is what keeps this crime under-reported and lets it keep working.
The simplest rule
Nobody legitimate will ever ring you unexpectedly to help you move your pension. If the conversation began because someone else started it, the safest possible response is to end it and call your provider yourself. Your pension is not going anywhere. The offer that cannot wait is the one you should walk away from.