Pension scams often begin with an unexpected offer to move or release your savings. Here is how they work, how to check a firm, and where to report one.

Two regulators publish the warning signs this page draws on, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and The Pensions Regulator (TPR), and a set of 2021 transfer regulations lets a pension scheme hold up a payment it suspects. Free, government-backed guidance is available from Pension Wise, run through MoneyHelper (what it covers). A scam worry sometimes eases after a word with someone regulated; whether alarmed or merely curious, a reader who uses the form on this page hears back, free, from a member of an FCA-authorised adviser firm.

What a scammer wants from you

According to TPR, scammers aim to "persuade pension savers to either transfer their entire pension savings, or release funds from it", often into a scheme the scammer controls. They tend to look professional, with credible websites and testimonials, and some now work through social media or through friends and family. Anyone can be caught, however financially savvy they think they are. The regulator's figures for 2024, credited to Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, put pension fraud losses at £17.5 million, an average of roughly £34,000 per person.

Discovery can come late: many scam investments are fixed-term, so people often do not realise for several years that something is wrong.

The contact that starts it

The route in is usually contact you did not ask for. Since January 2019 a specific rule has covered one channel, the phone. Regulation 21B of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, inserted by the Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2018, says a person must not make unsolicited calls for direct marketing in relation to occupational or personal pension schemes. The marketing it covers includes offering advice or a service that promotes "the withdrawal or transfer of funds" from such a scheme.

The ban has two narrow exceptions, both open only to a caller who is an authorised person or the trustee or manager of a pension scheme. Either the person called has told that caller they consent to such calls, or they have an existing client relationship with the caller of a kind in which they might reasonably expect such calls, and were given a simple way to refuse. The regulators put it more bluntly: TPR says cold calling about pensions is "illegal and likely a sign of a scam", and the FCA's advice is to hang up.

Calls are not the only channel. The FCA says to ignore offers by email or text, and TPR's advice is to turn down unexpected pension offers made face to face, by phone, online or on social media. The transfer regulations also treat letters and direct messages as unsolicited contact.

Two tricks are worth knowing:

  • The web form. MoneyHelper warns that official-looking websites asking for your details are a trick scammers use to get round the cold-calling ban. Whichever site you use, find out who will be ringing and check them before you talk.
  • Borrowed names. The FCA says some scammers claim to act for the FCA or MoneyHelper, and MoneyHelper says others imply they are part of Pension Wise by putting "wise", "guidance" or "pension" in a company name.

Pressure tends to travel with the contact: time-limited offers and couriers who wait while documents are signed (TPR), firms that will not let you call them back, and contact details that are only a mobile number or a PO box (MoneyHelper). Scammers may also say your provider just wants to keep your money; MoneyHelper replies that a provider must check the receiving scheme and, if it suspects a scam, has an obligation to try to protect the funds.

Four offers, and where each tends to lead

The pension "review"

The FCA's position is that an unexpected offer of a free review is likely to be a scam, because genuine professional advice on pensions costs money. Most firms offering them are not authorised, though many claim to be, and the aim is to steer money into a high-risk scheme. Under the 2021 transfer regulations, a free review counts as an incentive, which is a red flag.

The unusual investment

Pots moved this way can end up in overseas property, forestry, storage units, care homes or biofuels, often with guaranteed returns promised. TPR adds that many such holdings are overseas, "making it difficult to check ownership or even whether the investment exists". Even regulated investments can fall as well as rise in value, and you may get back less than was paid in. For products the FCA does not regulate, it warns, "you won't be protected if something goes wrong and you could lose all your money".

The early release or "pension loan"

The FCA calls any scheme offering cash from a pension before 55 "almost certainly a scam"; the age rises to 57 from 2028, and poor health is among the exceptions (ages and rules). The pot goes into a scheme the scam set up, often abroad, and the member is lent an amount, often around half, while the firm takes a fee of perhaps as much as 30%. A tax bill of 55% on what is withdrawn may follow even if the money is later put back. The mechanics are in pension liberation and the penalty position in early withdrawal. For anyone driven to this by debts, the regulator suggests a free debt adviser first.

The "better" transfer

The last is a pitch to move a pension somewhere "better", often with a guarantee of better returns. TPR's list of phrases to watch includes 'loophole', 'savings advance', 'one-off investment' and 'cashback'. A final salary pension raises its own questions (final salary pensions, the advice requirement); a fee-charging offer to find lost pensions is a different case (tracing old pensions).

What your own scheme may do about a suspect transfer

Under the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Conditions for Transfers) Regulations 2021, in force since 30 November 2021, the trustees or managers of a scheme paying out a transfer must decide whether one of two conditions is met. The First Condition covers transfers into a public service scheme, or a master trust or collective money purchase scheme authorised by TPR. There the paying scheme satisfies itself that the public service scheme is established, or that the other scheme is listed as authorised, and may not ask the member for evidence beyond what is needed to identify it.

Every other transfer faces the Second Condition, which is met only if no red flag is present. The regulations name them:

  • the member gave no substantive response to a request for evidence or information;
  • someone without the right regulatory status carried on a regulated activity for the member in connection with the transfer;
  • the request followed unsolicited contact for direct marketing of the transfer, whether in person or by call, text, letter, email or social media message;
  • the member was offered an incentive, which includes free pension reviews, access to savings before the normal minimum pension age, a savings advance or cashback (one offered by the paying scheme or its sponsoring employer does not count);
  • the member was, or "considers that they have felt", pressured.

Amber flags call for a pause rather than a stop. They include high-risk or unregulated investments in the receiving scheme, unclear or high fees, an unclear, complex or unorthodox investment structure, overseas investments, and a sharp or unusual rise in transfer requests involving the same receiving scheme or adviser. Incomplete evidence, or evidence that may not be genuine, counts too. When the paying scheme finds an amber flag it must require the member to take the Money and Pensions Service's pension transfer scams guidance and to supply proof of having done so. MoneyHelper (January 2025 snapshot) describes a free appointment that the member books through a link from the provider. If the proof does not arrive, that failure becomes a red flag.

The consequence is set out in regulation 5. If neither condition is satisfied, the member loses the right to use the cash equivalent for that request and must be told within 7 working days of the decision. The scheme must also tell the member about the conditions within one month of the request. TPR points out that many of the warning signs the public is told about are also red or amber flags. A scheme asking probing questions or sending you to a guidance appointment is therefore applying a legal test, not necessarily being obstructive; the practical steps are in how to transfer a pension and the free routes in transfer guidance.

Whether a transfer is safe is one question; whether it suits you is another, turning on the scheme, charges, your age and other income. Setting an offer beside your own figures is a job for a professional; should you fill the form on this page, transfer offer in hand, a regulated adviser from an FCA-authorised practice rings at no cost.

Checking who is really on the line

The FCA's Firm Checker shows whether a firm is authorised and whether its permission covers the service being pitched. Its guidance is to compare the firm reference number and contact details you were given with the entry, and to reach the checker by typing its web address yourself, never through a link in an email or on a company's own site, because some firms pretend to be authorised ones. If an entry has no contact details, or they look out of date, the FCA's number is 0800 111 6768. Advice from whoever got in touch first may itself be part of the scam. The regulator's own pension scams page collects these warnings.

Authorisation of the firm is not the only check. MoneyHelper points out that you might be encouraged to put money into unregulated, high-risk investments inside an authorised scheme, and suggests asking the scheme you are leaving to check the new scheme's HMRC registration status. Finding an adviser from scratch is covered in finding a regulated adviser; what advice is and when it costs money is in pension advice.

If you think it has already happened

The regulators and MoneyHelper set out this order.

  1. Your bank, if you paid anyone or gave out personal details. The FCA says to tell the bank immediately, using the contact details on your card or statements.
  2. Your pension provider, straight away. MoneyHelper says a transfer that has not yet gone through might still be stopped.
  3. Report Fraud (formerly Action Fraud), on 0300 123 2040. The FCA's page records the change of name in December 2025. MoneyHelper says the report brings a police crime reference number. In Scotland, the FCA and TPR direct people to Police Scotland on 101.
  4. Then the FCA. It cannot get your money back, but it looks at every report. TPR asks for names, contact details, websites and brochures to be included in any report.

Recovery is a separate matter. If a regulated firm advised you and is still trading, the Financial Ombudsman Service can hear a complaint once you have complained to the firm; if a UK-regulated adviser has failed, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme may be able to pay compensation. Both cover regulated firms; what applies to an unauthorised one is not covered here. Pension protection and reporting a pension scam go further.

Be wary afterwards. The FCA warns that people who have been scammed can be targeted again, sometimes by "recovery room" firms offering to win the money back. MoneyHelper's financial crimes and scams unit, on 0800 015 4402 according to its December 2025 page, can talk through options.

Questions people ask about pension scams

Can a firm on the FCA register still be a scam?

A real firm's identity can be cloned, which is why the FCA says to use only the contact details on the Firm Checker.

Does the cold-calling ban cover texts and emails?

Regulation 21B is about unsolicited calls. For texts and emails the FCA's advice is simply to ignore the offer, and the 2021 transfer regulations treat a request prompted by unsolicited contact by any of those routes as a red flag.

Will Pension Wise or MoneyHelper ever ring me out of the blue?

No, according to MoneyHelper: its December 2025 scams page says Pension Wise never cold-calls to offer a review, and its January 2025 safeguarding page says MoneyHelper never contacts people out of the blue or charges for its services. What Pension Wise is explains the genuine service.

Why is my scheme asking questions about my transfer?

It may be applying the red and amber flag checks above. Replying promptly and fully matters, because failing to give a substantive response is itself a red flag.

Next step

Undecided? A courtesy call from an FCA-authorised adviser firm is arranged as soon as the form on this page goes off; a number and a good time suffice. Other free routes are in free pension help.

Sources, accessed 20 October 2026: FCA, Pension scams, Protect yourself from scams and Report a scam (each last updated 19 January 2026); The Pensions Regulator, Avoid and report pension scams; SI 2021/1237, regulations 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9; SI 2003/2426, regulation 21B and SI 2018/1396; MoneyHelper, How to spot a pension scam (archived 31 December 2025) and Pension Safeguarding (archived 19 January 2025); FSCS, Pension protection; Financial Ombudsman Service, Pensions and annuities.