On the go: Organised crime groups led by families or married couples are running multimillion-pound pension scams, according to the Pensions Regulator.
The multi-agency Project Bloom group, set up to tackle pension scams, gathered intelligence that suggests several “fraudster families” are targeting pension savers.
Criminal investigations are currently ongoing into a number of these groups, and several individuals linked to the scams have been banned or suspended from being trustees, while businesses used for scams have been shut down.
Project Bloom found that some families hired rogue experts with specialist pension knowledge to run the large-scale scams for them.
Representatives of the Pensions Scams Industry Group have also reported that providers are identifying more suspicious transfer requests than ever before and alerting members to what they believe could be scams.
Nicola Parish, the regulator’s executive director of frontline regulation, said: “Trustees and administrators play a key role in preventing members from falling victim to scams by identifying suspicious requests early.”
She said: “Working together we can target those trying to plunder people’s pension pots and bring them to justice.”
Guy Opperman, Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, said: “We’re determined to put a stop to the misery these callous crooks inflict, which is why we’re supporting the work being done to stamp out pension theft.”
Margaret Snowdon, the chair of PSIG, stressed that “the closer we work together, the more difficult it is for scammers to steal people’s pensions”.
She added: “We will continue to do everything we can to spot possible scams early so we can help consumers to avoid becoming victims.”
