From Truffle Trees to Time Shares – Pension Fraud is Very Real

For the first time ever, the High Court has ordered the perpetrators of pension scams to repay the money they took from their victims. Four individuals, who between them ran 11 separate pension scams, must now pay back the £13.7 million they took from pensioners by dishonest means.

According to the BBC, as many as 245 members of the British public have been affected by these 11 scams, with each victim losing an average of £55,000 to schemes they thought were legitimate.

One couple were told to put their £78,000 into what they were assured was a 'low-risk investment' with a firm producing truffle trees in the West Country, while another man was approached via text message to invest £50,000 in the construction of a time-share development in St Lucia. The ruling is good news for anyone with a pension pot, as these sorts of scams are happening more and more in the wake of pension freedom, and may take a variety of different forms so as to be harder to spot.

To find out how you can make sure you never fall victim to a pension fraud, just follow our simple fraud survival guide on our Life's Big Decisions pages. Your best defence against pension fraud is a regulated financial adviser who will look after your best interests, and you can find one easily using our match tool below.