It takes decades to build a pension, but only a single instruction to lose it. According to identity verification firm Identomat, the threat to retirement savings is evolving: fraudsters are no longer just talking savers into bad decisions, they are increasingly bypassing savers altogether by pretending to be them.

That shift matters for the entire pensions industry. Identomat argues that pension fraud exploits two distinct weaknesses, trust and access, and that each demands a different defence. Providers that treat every scam as a persuasion problem risk leaving the door open to impersonation, and vice versa.

The traditional approach has not gone away. Pensions are complex, and transfers involve unfamiliar decisions about providers, investments, access rules and tax. That complexity gives a convincing stranger room to manoeuvre.

The FCA lists unsolicited pension reviews, guaranteed returns and unusual investments among the most common tactics, with a supposed review frequently serving as a route to persuading savers to move their money.

Clone firm scams are more sophisticated still. Criminals borrow the name and regulatory reference number of a genuine authorised business, replace its contact details with their own and sometimes even claim the regulator’s records are out of date.

Meanwhile, offers to unlock pensions early, dressed up as a “loan” or a “loophole”, prey on those facing mounting bills.

Identomat’s advice to savers is that the real test is not whether an offer sounds appealing, but whether they can independently confirm who is behind it, what that party is authorised to do and where the money will end up.

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