In the past year professional advisers have taken important steps to reduce the impact of scammers.
The fight against cold calling for pensions and investments was led by a petition from the industry supported by the Professional Finance Society (PFS) and started by Darren Cooke from Red Circle Financial Planning. The petition ended with over 8000 signatures from industry professionals. The Government has now committed to taking action against this nuisance to savers.
The PFS Chief Executive, Keith Richards said:
Pension scams come in many forms and it is in the nature of innovative scammers that if one ‘route to market’ is closed, they will seek out another. For this reason, the ban on cold calling should extend as far and wide as necessary to stamp out the work of financial predators who continue to prey on the vulnerable in our community. We must also remain wary of new methods adopted by cold callers and scammers, and ensure that we have the legislative flexibility to prosecute against innovative scammers in the market.
At JTM, we have witnessed a many instances of attempted scamming. Fortunately for our clients, they are always able to contact us to discuss cold calls and other unsolicited offers.
Our advice is to follow these 3 simple rules:
- Be suspicious of offers of high no-risk returns. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
- Suspect any offer that comes unsolicited, either by phone, email or text.
- If in doubt, speak to your financial adviser.