Pension Scams Targeting Expats: How to Recognise the Red Flags

Pension fraud is one of the most harmful forms of financial crime. Unlike investment fraud where the loss is of savings, pension fraud often results in the loss of pension savings accumulated over an entire working life — savings that are not replaceable and that were intended to fund retirement. The sums involved are often very large. The emotional as well as financial consequences can be devastating.

British nationals abroad are among the most heavily targeted groups. Scammers have refined their approaches to exploit the specific vulnerabilities of expats, the genuine complexity of international pension rules, and the isolation that can come from living far from UK-regulated financial services.

This guide sets out what scammers do, how to recognise their approaches, and what to do.

Seven Red Flags to Know

1. Unsolicited Contact

You received a call, email, WhatsApp message, or social media approach from someone you did not engage. They offered advice or information about your UK pension, mentioned your existing pension provider by name, or suggested you have unused pension benefits available.

Legitimate UK pension providers and regulated advisers do not make cold calls. The FCA has banned cold calling about pensions. If you receive unsolicited contact about your pension from anyone — regardless of how professional they appear or what they claim — treat it as a significant red flag.

Scammers obtain lists of pension holders and expats through data purchases, social media scraping, and referral networks. They may know your name, approximate pension value, or former employer.

2. The Offer to Access Pension Before Age 55

This is perhaps the single most reliable indicator of fraud. The minimum pension access age in the UK is currently 55, rising to 57 in 2028. Accessing pension funds before this age is only permitted in cases of serious ill health (and is subject to strict criteria).

If anyone claims they can arrange for you to receive some or all of your pension before age 55 — described as a "pension loan", a "pension advance", a "QROPS release", or any other framing — walk away immediately. There is no legitimate mechanism to access UK pension savings before 55 (other than ill health). Proceeding will likely result in both the loss of your pension and a substantial HMRC tax charge.

The charge for an unauthorised payment from a pension is 40% of the payment, plus a further 15% surcharge where the unauthorised payments reach 25% or more of the fund in a year — a combined charge of up to 55% of the amount withdrawn. (A separate scheme sanction charge can be levied on the scheme administrator, but the unauthorised payment charge and surcharge are what fall on the pension member — not the scammer.)

3. Claims of HMRC Approval

HMRC does not approve, endorse, or certify specific pension schemes, transfer arrangements, or advisers as "legitimate" or "compliant" beyond maintaining official registers. The HMRC QROPS list is a register of schemes that have met certain conditions — not an endorsement.

Phrases such as "HMRC approved", "fully HMRC compliant", "HMRC registered and authorised", or "approved by the UK government" in the context of a pension transfer are meaningless marketing at best and fraudulent misrepresentation at worst. Do not be reassured by them.

4. High, Guaranteed, or Fixed Returns

No legitimate investment can guarantee specific high returns. Pensions invested in the real world are subject to market movements, and their value can fall as well as rise. Any pitch that promises a guaranteed return — "10% per year guaranteed", "secure 8% income", "guaranteed growth fund" — is either misrepresenting the product or offering an investment that is not what it appears.

Scam pension investments are often described as providing high fixed returns through investments in unusual sectors: overseas hotel developments, luxury resorts, car park schemes, forestry, private lending, or similarly opaque structures. The "investment" is often fictitious or designed primarily to extract fees, with the pension money being moved offshore and becoming unrecoverable.

5. Exotic or Unusual Investments in the Pension

Alongside the guaranteed returns pitch, scam schemes almost always involve investments that sound unusual but are described as "unique" or "high yield". These include:

• Overseas property developments (often described as "HMRC approved investment property")
• Cryptocurrency funds within a pension wrapper
• Private company shares with no market
• Hotel or resort room ownership schemes
• Loans to property developers
• Forestry, agricultural, and carbon credit schemes

Some of these investments exist legitimately in other contexts. None of them are appropriate pension investments under HMRC's rules for registered pension schemes. Placing pension assets in unrecognised investments triggers the "taxable property" charge — an unauthorised payment charge — regardless of whether the scammer told you it was legal.

6. Pressure to Sign Quickly

"This offer is only available until Friday." "Our allocation is almost full." "If you don't confirm by end of week, you'll miss the window." "Your current pension provider will block this if they find out, so we need to move quickly."

Legitimate financial advisers and pension providers do not pressure clients into fast decisions. Pension transfers are significant long-term decisions. Any adviser who creates urgency — particularly if combined with instructions to keep the transfer confidential from your existing provider — is a scammer.

7. No Clear FCA Registration or Overseas Equivalent

UK financial advisers providing advice on pension transfers must be authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and must hold specific pension transfer qualifications (a "Transfer of Benefits" qualification for defined benefit transfers, or equivalent qualifications for other pension advice).

Any person or firm providing pension advice without clear, current FCA registration — or without registration from a recognised equivalent regulator in an overseas jurisdiction — is providing unregulated advice. Unregulated advice is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). If the advice is negligent or the investment fails, you have no recourse.

The QROPS Scam Pattern

QROPS — Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes — are legitimate vehicles for overseas pension transfers in specific circumstances. They are also exploited by fraudsters because the name creates an air of legitimacy and the mechanism involves moving pension funds out of the UK.

The QROPS scam pattern typically runs as follows:

1. An expat is approached with an offer to "optimise" their pension for life abroad, often using the term QROPS.
2. They are told that their UK pension will be transferred to a QROPS, which will give them tax advantages, better investment returns, or access to their funds.
3. The "QROPS" being used may be on HMRC's recognised scheme list — but run by a dishonest operator in a poorly regulated jurisdiction.
4. Funds are transferred to the overseas scheme, high fees are charged, and the investments within the scheme are either worthless or designed to benefit the scammer.
5. The pension member is left with a fraction of their original fund (or nothing), a large HMRC tax bill if the scheme is found to be non-compliant, and no regulated recourse.

Verify every QROPS against HMRC's published list of Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes. Verify every adviser against the FCA register (and the local regulator in the overseas country). Never transfer pension funds in response to unsolicited contact.

How Legitimate Pension Transfers Work

To understand fraud, it helps to understand the legitimate process.

A legitimate SIPP-to-SIPP transfer or SIPP-to-QROPS transfer involves:

• A regulated financial adviser providing documented advice
• A formal application to the receiving scheme, including identity verification
• The transferring provider conducting its own due diligence on the receiving scheme
• Funds transferred directly from the UK provider to the receiving scheme — never to the client or to a third party
• HMRC oversight of the transfer record

You will never receive cash from a legitimate pension transfer. The funds always move directly between trustees. If anyone asks for your bank details so that "your pension can be released to you before being reinvested", this is fraud.

What to Do If You Are Approached

1. Do not proceed — regardless of how professional, knowledgeable, or legitimate the person appears.
2. Check the FCA register at register.fca.org.uk before engaging any UK pension adviser.
3. Do not disclose your pension details — your provider, pension value, or reference numbers.
4. Report the approach to the FCA consumer helpline (0800 111 6768) and, if UK-based, to Action Fraud (0300 123 2040).
5. Seek independent advice from a regulated adviser you have identified independently — not one referred by the person who approached you.

How Global Investments Can Help

Global Investments is a regulated financial services firm. Our advisers hold appropriate qualifications and work within the FCA and CySEC regulatory frameworks. We do not cold call. We do not offer access to pension funds before age 55. We do not promise guaranteed returns.

If you have been approached about your pension and are unsure whether the contact is legitimate, we can provide an independent assessment of what you have been told and what — if any — legitimate options exist for your situation.

Protecting your pension from fraud is as important as growing it. If you have any doubt about any pension communication you have received, seek independent advice before taking any action.

Pension rules and fraud patterns evolve. This guide reflects the position as at 2026. For the latest information on pension scam patterns, the FCA's ScamSmart service at fca.org.uk/scamsmart provides up-to-date guidance.