Scammers defraud third of all pension schemes

Nearly one in three pension schemes has been affected by fraud with victims experiencing a threefold rise in scams in 2012 according to RSM.

An RSM report  Pensions Fraud: sleepwalking into a crisis reveals that of schemes that had experienced fraud 51% were hit in the year to 31 December 2016 while 17% were scammed in the previous year.

The survey showed a worrying level of complacency among trustees. Almost 60% claimed that fraud was not a significant threat to their scheme while a quarter failed to recognise that trustees were responsible for the systems that prevent and detect fraud.

Pensioner existence fraud – when benefits continue to be paid to relatives of deceased pensioners – was cited as the most common type of fraud. The number of over-55s retiring overseas is making it more difficult for schemes and their administrators to keep up with...