Nearly £31 Million Lost to UK Pension Fraud in Three Years

Scammers pretending to be advisers have pilfered nearly £31 million ($41.2 million) from British pension savers over the past three years with unrealistic and risky investments, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and The Pensions Regulator (TPR). Reported individual losses range from less than £1,000 to as much as £500,000, with the average victim being a man in his 50s.

“During these uncertain times, it is more important than ever to defend your lifetime savings from scammers,” Mark Steward, the FCA’s executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said in a statement. “Fraudsters will seek out every opportunity to exploit innocent people, no matter how much or how little you have saved.”

Steward suggested that savers check the status of a firm before changing their pension by visiting the FCA register, and that they get advice from an FCA authorized firm before making any pension changes.

The regulators said a total of £30,857,329 has been lost to pension scammers since 2017, based on complaints filed with Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting center for fraud and cybercrime. They also said the total amount and the number of victims is likely much higher than thought because scams are often unreported, and some victims don’t realize they have been scammed until several years after the fact.

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The regulators warned that scammers often design attractive offers to persuade people to transfer their pension to them, often setting “time-limited offers” or deadlines to pressure them into releasing their money. On July 1, the FCA launched an ad campaign through its ScamSmart website warning people about pension scammers and featuring English soccer commentator Clive Tyldesley. It targeted soccer fans, as they were found to be susceptible to pension grifters.

“Scammers are very good at breaking down your defenses and putting you under pressure with various deadlines,” Tyldesley said. “But your pension isn’t a football transfer—there are no deadlines. Your favorite team wouldn’t buy a new striker just because his agent says he’s good. They’d ask around, check out his stats, do some research—just like you should when handling your pension plans.”

The regulators cited a recent survey of mostly soccer fans that found that while 76% knew how much a soccer season ticket cost, only 43% knew how much money is in their pension, and 45% don’t know how to check how to check if someone approaching them about their pension is legitimate.

“Scammers wreck lives and no matter how big or small your savings are, every pot is a target,” TPR Chief Executive Charles Counsell said in a statement. “It may seem tempting to make a change to your pension fund now, but it’s important not to rush.”

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Tags: Action Fraud, Charles Counsell, FCA, Financial Conduct Authority, Mark Steward, pension fraud, ScamSmart, The Pensions Regulator, TPR

The people who handle corporate America’s finances aren’t expecting a swift recovery from the nation’s woebegone economy.

A daunting 60% of company chief financial officers (CFOs) say US economic conditions are bad, and only a minority, 43%, expect things to get better a year from now, according to a quarterly survey by consulting firm Deloitte.

Their biggest worry, as the report for the third quarter stated, was “that the pandemic might trigger a longer-term recession.”

Revenue growth improved slightly over the firm’s last CFO poll, for the second quarter. Then, the average projection for revenue a year away was an 8.6% shrinkage. The current outlook was for a paltry 1% growth. At least that’s in positive territory. In the current quarter, US hiring rose to 0.2%, versus minus 6% three months before.

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Companies last year already were sitting on a mountain of cash. Lately, they’ve fattened that stash still more: On average, CFOs reported cash levels 25% above pre-pandemic levels. And more than half of the CFOs expect to use the cash solely as a cushion against uncertainty. Other uses of the cash: funding operations, acquisitions, and projects planned pre-pandemic.

But regardless of how sales are running, the CFOs think their operations—how well their companies are functioning—are recovering well: 42% say their company is already at or above its pre-crisis operating level, or will be by the end of the current quarter. That’s compared with 20% three months ago.

Companies need to tap capital markets, naturally, and how the CFOs view the attractiveness of various asset classes is instructive. Debt is the preferred source, with 87% saying they like it, up from 63% in the last quarter. Small wonder. Interest rates are cheap, and companies have been loading up on bonds and other such borrowings.

Meanwhile, stocks are viewed more favorably quarter over quarter, but nothing like debt. For public companies, 39% liked equity, up from 25% before. Why the diff between stocks and debt? A towering 84% of CFOs now believe that stocks are overvalued, up from 55% before. In other words, debt is cheaper.