Pension reforms: Drawdown customers warned over scammers
George Osborne's reforms to pensions, which mean people can withdraw their savings and buy, say, a Ferrari (or just shares in Lloyds Banking Group), was seen as a revolutionary move by most savers. But it seems scammers were also pretty pleased about it: now Citizens Advice has warned pensioners and pensioners-to-be to be on alert.
The organisation said this morning that the number of cold calls and emails targeting over-55s with "fraudulent pension opportunities" has jumped in the four months since the new rules were introduced.
Read more: The 10 shares pension drawdown investors are buying
Two in five Citizens Advice pensions staff have seen people "targeted repeatedly" with pension scams, while a third reckon scams targeting over-55s in general have increased.
The most notable scams include "unspecified financial products", in which fraudsters ask savers to allow them to invest their savings on their behalf, offering a high rate of return; free pension review, in which callers ask to visit savers in their own home, thereby being shown paperwork that would given them access to their pensions; and more specific investments such as fine wines or overseas property.
Citizens Advice warned savers to be particularly vigilant about cold calls: four in five of those targeted were contacted by phone, while a third were contacted by email, a third were contacted by post and one in five had been approached by text message.