Almost a fifth of over-50s have been targeted by a potential pension scammer in the last three months by phone, text or email according to new figures.
Retirement advisers Retirement Advantage found 18% of those aged 50 or over had been offered unsolicited free pensions advice in recent months.
The news follows earlier figures published by the City of London Police in May which showed the number of reported cases of pensions fraud had decreased in the last two years, while the value of individual cases had soared.
The UK government launched a consultation into pensions scams in December last year which closed in February. No response has yet been published to the consultation, which proposed banning cold-calling and limiting the statutory right to transfer pension savings into another occupational scheme to cases where there is a 'genuine employment link'.
Pensions litigation expert Ben Fairhead of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said at the time of the consultation opening that “leaving the law as it currently stands is making it too easy for pension scammers”.
Fairhead added: “The one fly in the ointment might be the window of opportunity that remains now for scammers before any change to the law is brought into effect - which could be many months away. It would be sensible for a government to think about some interim measures to prevent the sort of upsurge of activity that might otherwise result whilst the law remains in its current unsatisfactory state.”
The new figures on scams follow the recent publication of the Pensions Ombudsman's annual report (84 page / 409KB PDF). That showed the body handled over 6,000 enquiries last year, up 22% from 2015/16, and completed completed 1,404 investigations, 7% more than the previous year.
The majority (70%) of cases were resolved informally by adjudicators and 30% formally with an ombudsman's decision. The ombudsman completed investigations in an average of 10 months and 40% were completed within six months, up from 25% in 2015/16.
Pension liberation cases reduced significantly, accounting for 8% of new investigations compared to 16% in 2015/6. Meanwhile complaints about pensions transfers, such as the calculation or payment of transfer values, and complaints about overpayment of benefits increased.
“It is good to see that the ombudsman is dealing with cases more quickly and continues to work on eliminating the back log as speedy resolutions are better for both schemes and members,” said pensions expert Hayley Goldstone of Pinsent Masons.
“Pension schemes should take note of the increase in complaints to the ombudsman and the most common areas of dispute. For example, given the increase in complaints about transfer values and overpayments, trustees and administrators may wish to review their processes for dealing with these to minimise the risk of the ombudsman complaints,” said Goldstone.
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