Protect your pension fund at all costs. Pension “vampires” disguised as friendly and legitimate pension advisers are still out there – prowling the land trying to find victims. Ever evolving and changing their strategies to seduce you into transferring your pension fund, often into a high-risk, toxic investment that rewards them with high commission but leaves your pension fund and your health frazzled.
Pension vampires are very good at wearing disguises AND their credible eloquence and charming manner are sure to get your attention. This is why here at Pension Life we want to raise public awareness to discourage individuals from being drawn in by the vampires’ compelling sales techniques. We want victims to learn how to protect your pension fund.
Con artists and pension scammers love to cold call and give the impression they are official government representatives or fully qualified and regulated advisers. They are very clever at worming their way into victims’ homes and setting these vulnerable people up to get scammed out of their pensions.
THIS SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN
If you are cold called – please just hang up.
Much like a vampire, once you have invited them into your life, it is very difficult to get rid of them. They will trick you into transferring you pension fund into their care – often with promises of high returns and low risk. In reality, they will bleed you dry.
What these pension vampires leave out of their convincing sales pitch is the high commission charges they will add every time they put your fund into a new or different investment. Often the commission charges heavily outweigh the interest that will be applied to the investment should it be successful.
Pension vampires hunt in packs and the first one you meet will NOT be the last. Often the first pension vampire will introduce you to several others. Each one will want to have a suck on your fund. This type of pension scam is called fractional scamming its happening more and more. Please have a look at our previous blog on fractional scammers for more information on how this type of scam works.
Pension vampires not only use cold calling techniques, they also send emails and use the postal system. The content is usually the same – they offer you a free pension review.
Nothing in life comes for free – the review may seem to be free but what comes after will be devastating to your pension fund and your health.
Pete and Val fell victim to pension vampires using a pension liberation scam – here’s the tragic story of how their pension fund was left decimated by a firm of unlicensed so-called advisers: Continental Wealth Management.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up to date on new Pension Life videos.
So here’s a check list from Pension Life to ensure you protect your pension fund and avoid being the next victim of a pension vampire:
Cold called? Hang up
Offered a “free” pension review? Remember, nothing in life comes for free
Too goo to be true? It probably is!
Interested in transferring your pension fund? Do your own research and get a second opinion
Protect your pension – swot up on pensions rules and regulations – your pension is your life’s saving – make sure you protect it!
Check that the financial adviser you use is in fact authorised to give financial advice – investment advice and not just insurance advice
Use companies you have heard of and be wary of any companies offering investments in eco friendly investment schemes. Link Pension liberation scammers of Successful Pensions JAILED
Make sure you have read all the necessary paperwork and check the progress of your fund regularly
And, lastly, as Pete says in the video –
“Assume nothing with these people. If you do you’re doomed.”
**************************************************************
As always, Pension Life would like to remind you that if you are planning to transfer any pension funds, make sure that you are transferring into a legitimate scheme. To find out how to avoid being scammed, please see our blog:
Stephen Ward is still operating in the pensions and investment industry for the same firm with offices in Spain, the UK and the UAE.
Angie, so quick to attack someone who makes a spelling mistake (your Smere vs Smear post) and then you go and do it too. Tsk tsk!
“Protect your pension – swat up on pensions rules and regulations – your pension is your life’s saving – make sure you protect it!”
To point out the difference for you between SWAT and SWOT.
SWAT is an acronym for Special Weapons and Tactics, as in special police force.
SWOT is to “study or work hard”.
Those in glass houses and all that.
I’m sitting here wondering if you are any better than those you attack. You may think you’re doing something good, but you are actually (very entertaining) laughing stock for all in the industry. You also write so poorly that I’m sure no person of sound mind would actually take you seriously.
Those who do take your nonsense more seriously (they really shouldn’t) have actually successfully managed to get your site blocked in certain countries because of your ill-informed and often unfounded claims and outright defamation.
Can’t wait to read your next wild swing at someone… (that and, of course, your normal “need to defend myself” comment that is about to follow naturally).
P
@phil Do you work for Holborn then?
Oh, btw, the profession does take the issue of defrauding victims seriously as it is the profession that ends up having to pay for all of this. You and your ”industry” mates can carry on laughing at the plight of those that have lost everything.
@ward no I don’t. But do work in the pension transfer space for a long time.
I agree that defrauding people is horrible, those that do should bloody go to jail.
Merely making a point that the owner of this site is misguided in who she attacks. Holborn and Guardian and Carrick (and deVere who obviously pays or threatens her legally) are all good companies in my opinion. Sure, they may have had some investments go down but to point finger and call these companies “crooks” and “frauds” (without evidence I’ll add) is just as damaging to the industry.
Angie Brooks make it out that all who purvey the offshore space is out to defraud. And I believe she does more harm than good.
@phil
“The pension transfer space”? Funny language you lot use, the ”space” is a good term to use as that represents where the money used to be.
“Good” companies do not get crippling fines for failing to meet anti-money laundering rules.
Did you watch that video? This is not just a case of investments going down, which is an achievement in itself during one of the longest market bull runs in living memory, it is about a lot more than that. Wouldn’t the evidence be the investor who was defrauded of his or her pension? Is not the stuffing of a whole pension fund into derivative manufactured autocall notes deemed to be poor practice in your Skylab?
Aren’t deVere in “space” too 😉 If they are funding this, wouldn’t they be damaging the “space” for themselves as well? There is a lot of space junk out there.
There are other companies on this site that are not in orbit, but seem to be based in GB. So, it is not all about companies outside of GB.
I hope this site does damage the financial sales industry, maybe the financial professionals reading this would welcome that and the death of this horrendous commission culture that more advanced regulators have kicked into the stratosphere.