The Pensions Regulator has embarked on a national roadshow, targeting financial advisers to make them aware of potential scams and fraudulent pensions activity.
Starting off this month (July), which is national scams awareness month, The Pensions Regulator's industry liaison team is starting a three-month tour of England, meeting financial advisers and spreading the warning message about various fraudulent activity.
The events have been organised by the Personal Finance Society across the south east, London and the Midlands.
According to a spokesman from The Pensions Regulator: "At each venue they’ve highlighted the warning signs of scams, how advisers can ensure their clients don’t fall victim to them, and what to do if they think one of their clients has been scammed."
Pension freedoms have opened the floodgates for scammers and con men.Andrew TullyThe events come as data published by financial services companies shows pension fraud is on the increase.
According to one study, from Age UK, nearly five million older people have been targeted by fraudsters.
The charity has warned that older people are particularly at risk of being scams victims, with more than two-fifths saying they've been a target.
Meanwhile, nearly two million people in Britain have been contacted by a potential pension scammer in the past three months, research from pension provider Retirement Advantage revealed.
A poll of 1,005 people aged 50 plus, carried out by pollsters Censuswide, found 18 per cent of people - by extrapolation, 1.8m people in the UK - have been offered unsolicited free pensions advice or investment opportunities by phone, text or email between April and June this year.
Andrew Tully, pensions technical director at Retirement Advantage, said: "The pension freedoms have opened the floodgates for scammers and con men to prey on people who are keen to access their pensions.
"These scammers are using increasingly sophisticated and convincing ways of trying to defraud large amounts of cash from people’s hard earned pensions and savings."
The Pensions Regulator has published a scams awareness guides for scheme members, trustees and business advisers, which is available on its website.
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