Since 2014, nearly 3,000 people have been conned out of an average £15,000 each, due to them being tricked by fraudsters to change their pension scheme to benefit themselves. Therefore, the government are banning cold calling regarding pensions. The government have already banned some types of cold calling, for example ones including mortgages.
The government are not only banning cold calls, but they are planning on banning texts and emails regarding selling a product or service around someone’s pension. The original law was excluding texts and emails, however with petitions being signed this has now changed and government have now removed all types of cold calling to the new law. This new law will help the public to understand what is legitimate and what is a fraud, hopefully helping the amount of pension scams decrease.
Companies need to have had previous permission to contact customers, so they will need to have had a previous relationship to even contact someone. If this is breached, then the fraudsters will face fines of up to £500,000.
When this law comes into place, make sure you are aware, and do not text/email back and make sure you hang up the phone immediately.
