Around 16 per cent of savers under 55 would consider offers of early pension access amidst coronavirus, with young savers being particularly vulnerable, AJ Bell has said

Research from the investment specialist showed that younger savers appear more likely to want to get at their pots, with over one in five (21 per cent) of 18-34 year olds saying they would consider an offer to access their pension early, compared to just 13 per cent of 35–54 year olds.

Men seemed almost doubly keen to access their savings than women, with 21 per cent of males under 55 likely to consider an early access pension offer as opposed to 11 per cent of their female counterparts.

Younger people are also more vulnerable to cold calling tactics, with 15 per cent of 18-34 year olds with a pension saying they would accept a phone call from someone they don’t know about their pension, compared to 11 per cent of 35-54 year olds and just 1 per cent of those aged 55 and over.

AJ Bell senior analyst, Tom Selby, said the coronavirus crisis would “inevitably push millions of people into a financially vulnerable position” making it “inevitable scammers will look to take advantage by attempting to coerce savers to part with their hard-earned pensions”.

He continued: “While getting access to your pension before age 55 may be tempting during this period of uncertainty, doing so will as a minimum see you hit with a 55 per cent unauthorised payment charge from HMRC in the first instance.

“At best you’ll then be subject to sky high fees by the fraudster as well, meaning you only get a fraction of your pension back and your retirement prospects are left in tatters. Many people lose everything as a result of these types of scams.”

In order to avoid falling victim to scammers, AJ Bell recommended savers keep their eye out for opportunities that seem to good to be true, avoid replying to unsolicited contact about pensions from strangers and be wary of anyone offering free advice.

Other tips included making sure advisers are regulated via the Financial Conduct Authority register and watching out for people trying to rush you into making pension decisions.

Selby concluded: “Ultimately it is down to individual savers to get wise to scammers’ tactics and protect themselves so they don’t become the next victim.”

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