Pension scams: Britons warned over criminals offering inheritance tax loopholes

The caller pitches a great deal. Shift the moneysaved in your pension and reinvest it in a scheme overseas where you can avoid it being caught under next year’s changes to the UK’s inheritance tax (IHT) system.

From April next year, any money left in a defined contribution pension after your death, which is most workplace and all private pensions, will be pulled into the IHT net.

The forthcoming change has caused you some anxiety so this opportunity sounds promising. But the new scheme does not exist. It has been fabricated by criminals aiming to exploit people’s concerns.

One of the largest pension providers in the UK, Standard Life, has warned that scams like this will become more common before the changes in April 2027.

Although the new rules will not affect everyone – the basic tax-free threshold for an estate is £325,000 – fraudsters will play on any confusion to try to convince people to move their money out of their pension, says Donna Walsh from Standard Life.

“With these changes, people become uncertain and a little bit confused around what they can do, what will and will not happen. And that’s exactly the type of conditions that scammers are set to exploit,” she adds.

What it looks like

The scams often start with emails, calls or messages that come out of the blue.

They might offer a free review of your pension or access to a scheme, or investment, with high returns, often located overseas.

Common phrases used by scammers are “pension liberation”, “loan”, “loophole”, “savings advance”, “one-off investment” and “cashback”, according to The Pensions Regulator.

The criminals often try to apply pressure by saying you have a limited amount of time to accept the offer.

When someone agrees to transfer their money, the scammers will often coach them to answer questions that the pension provider might have about why they are moving their funds.

“The provider asks those questions to try to protect the saver, but the scammer is then coaching them on how to get through those,” says Walsh. “Our teams are trained to identify that.”

What to do

Take care if you are called on the phone. Cold calling about pensions is illegal, so treat any unsolicited approaches with suspicion.

As with all scams, the fraudsters want you to act impulsively and alone so don’t make any rash decisions and seek a second opinion.

The Financial Conduct Authority has that you can use to check whether a company is authorised. If you want to make changes to your pension, you may want to talk to a regulated financial adviser. The government-backed service can help find one.