Protect yourself against fraud

Tip 1

You should be suspicious of any unsolicited calls, texts or emails about your pension.

Scams often start with a call, text or email out of the blue, offering ‘help with’ or perhaps ‘a review of’ your pension arrangements.

To be safe, you should avoid engaging with any individuals and firms you don’t know that contact you about your pension or other financial arrangements. If you believe someone is trying to scam you, report it to Action Fraud.

Tip 2

Anyone promising large, guaranteed returns should be treated with extreme caution.

Another tell-tale sign of a scam is the promise of huge, guaranteed investment returns, often over relatively short spaces of time.

The rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies has inspired a lot of scams like this recently, but fraudulent investment ‘offers’ can take many other weird and wonderful forms.

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is.

Tip 3

Only deal with regulated companies and individuals.

Unregulated ‘introducers’ often sit at the heart of scams, peddling unregulated investments. There is obviously nothing wrong with investing in legitimate unregulated assets, but where fraud occurs these often turn out to be vastly overhyped or entirely fictitious. Even where an unregulated investment is real, you will not qualify for FSCS protection (worth up to £85,000) if you suffer losses through mis-selling.

To be safe, consult your financial adviser before making any investment decisions.

Tip 4

Doing your research is essential, and could prevent you from bring tricked.

Scammers’ tactics have become more sophisticated in recent years, with ‘clone’ scams – where fraudsters impersonate real investment firms to con people out of their cash – increasingly common.

Contact made via suspicious phone numbers or email addresses can be cross-checked with the FCA register to make sure people are who they say they are.

AJ Bell Investcentre will never cold call you, or message you directly using social media, offering investment opportunities. If you receive such communication, this is a scam and should be reported to us so we can make other customers aware.

Tip 5

If you feel like you’ve been rushed or are in any doubt, contact your financial adviser.

High-pressure sales tactics – such as telling someone they need to invest by a set deadline – are classic scam tactics and should immediately set off alarm bells.

You must not, under any circumstances, be rushed into a decision that you’re not completely comfortable or happy with. Speak to your financial adviser about your options before deciding what to do. If the individual is legitimate, they won’t be deterred by delays.