MSE News: Pensions cold calling ban proposed by Government

It won't stop the crooks.

and most of the scam ones call from Cyprus and places like that , out of reach of any UK regulations


http://citywire.co.uk/new-model-adviser/news/police-investigate-adviser-over-alleged-pension-fraud/a687731

minislim wrote: »

it is simple!
if you do a blanket ban on all cold calling.
then run a high profile advertising campaign telling people its illegal.

that should get the message across.

Not simple at all, if you are a crook you really won't care if its illegal (particularly if you are not even in the UK) and it will be a simple matter for a smooth talking conman to convince a confused elderly that they are NOT making a cold call. For example;

" Good morning Mrs Jones, yes I know about the ban on cold calling and what a good idea it is, this is not that kind of call. I'm speaking to you specially from.....[ your Bank, Help the aged, Citizens Advice, Prudential, etc.....]. We have a limited time opportunity for you to make sh*t loads of money in your pension, all you need do is transfer your funds to this new account. I'll call round today with the forms".

Admittedly most won't fall for it but sadly some still will :-(


Rob

It needs the pension providers to set up systems to stop this, it's not rocket science now is it

Ok, so what do you suggest? Pension providers sending warnings to members about scams? Pension providers having internal "watch lists" for suspicious companies? Pension providers running transfers through checklists to identify new scammers? Pension providers stalling dodgy transfers while they send the member a litany of anti-scam material pointing out what's wrong with the picture and urging them not to be so stupid? Pension providers reporting dodgy companies to Action Fraud and the Regulator and HMRC? Pension providers applying to HMRC to find out whether a scheme has been set up legitimately? Pension providers having specialised departments that vet and deal with all potential scam cases? Pension providers applying to TPR for extensions to transfer deadline because by law they have to comply with a transfer request by a member within a set period of time even though they're sure it's a scam? Pension providers refusing to transfer, forcing the Ombudsman and High Court to clarify that they are legally obliged to allow the transfer and they have to do it even if it looks suspicious?

Sorry - they do all that.

What more would you do?

(FYI: I was the central point of contact for all scam cases in my old company. I set up all our anti-scam procedures and trained all the admin staff on using them. I personally investigated dozens if not hundreds of scam transfers and drafted personalised letters back to members that not only explained what was wrong with scams in general, but pointed out exactly which elements of their proposed transfer should make them suspicious, and guided them towards further research into e.g. storage pod investments, as well as telling them to contact the Pensions Advisory Service to discuss what we were telling them. I called members and spent hours talking through the literature they had been sent by the scammers. I investigated company directors, administrators, advisers, unregulated investments, false addresses, improperly executed "off the shelf" dummy scheme rules, you name it. I got myself some contacts in the relevant departments of TPR and HMRC. I created and passed huge bundles of research and information to HMRC and the FCA in a bid to get them to shut schemes and advisers down. I endured legal threats from scammers.

Despite all this, despite whatever you can try to do to change the member's mind and get the authorities to take action against the scammers, you usually end up in the same place: if the member is determined to transfer, which they sometimes still are even after all that, and HMRC don't have enough evidence to de-register the scheme because it takes a few years for the scam to hit people, you have to transfer. That's it. There's nothing more you can do.)