In 2023, £17.7 million was lost nationally to pension fraud, as reported by Action Fraud as it launched its Protect your Pension campaign in September 2024. The average loss of those who reported pension fraud was around £47,000 per person.
As pension scams continue to increase, so do the number of tactics scammers use. But there are certain things you can watch out for to detect a scam as well as actions you can take to protect yourself. Let’s look in particular at how you can spot a scam email from the real thing.
Spot the scam email
You receive the following emails to your inbox. Can you spot which one is legitimate, and which one is a scam?
Dear Valued Member,
We regret to inform you that our security system has detected unauthorised accesss to your UKRF account. Immejiate action is required to secure your personal information.
Click the link below to verify your identity and update your password..
[Verify now]
Failure to do so within 24 hours will result in account suspension.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Your pension administrator
Dear Jane,
There’s power in staying up to date.
Fortunately, it’s easy to know the latest information about your UKRF benefits. Visit the Newsroom for more stories like:
Open all hours
Why down still means up
It’s good to talk
Thank you,
The Trustee of the Barclays Bank UK Retirement Fund
How do you know which email to trust?
Here are some things you can look out for:
Sender’s email address
Is the email from a recognisable and official domain? If not, it might be a phishing attempt.
Typically, the email should be from a recognised and official domain. This is the part of an email address that follows the “@” symbol, which indicates the organisation or service that sent the email. For the UKRF, you’ll receive communications from barclaysteam@wtwco.com or barclaysteam@willistowerswatson.com, showing it came from the administrators of the UKRF, WTW (formerly Willis Towers Watson). Watch out for any slight variations on email addresses e.g. baarclaysteam@wtvvco.com.
Language and grammar
Are there spelling or grammatical errors in the email? If yes, it might be a phishing attempt.
Legitimate emails usually have proper grammar and spelling. Errors may indicate a phishing attempt.
Urgency
Does the email create a sense of urgency, asking you to act immediately? If yes, it might be a phishing attempt.
The emails we share with you won’t pressure you with urgent requests. Phishing emails are often developed to create a false sense of urgency.
Links
Place the cursor on any links without clicking to check if they lead to the official domain or the actual email address of the sender. If the URL or email looks suspicious or doesn't match the official domain, it might be a phishing attempt.
We always use barclaysbankUKRF.com in our emails, which will take you to this website (epa.towerswatson.com/accounts/barclays). Make sure when you place your cursor on any link to the website that the URL that shows is the one you currently see in the address bar. Phishing emails often have suspicious or mismatched URLs.
When you visit a website, it’s also worth looking out for the padlock that indicates the connection is secure and encrypted.
Things you can do to stop the scammers
Pension scams can be hard to spot as scammers can be very convincing. They’re often financially knowledgeable, have credible looking websites and use lots of jargon. However, a quick way to check if you’re dealing with a scammer is to use the SCAM test:
Seems too good to be true
Contacted out of the blue
Asked for personal details
Money is requested
If some or all of these are true, it could be a potential scam.
Think you might be dealing with a scammer? Here’s what to do:
- If someone offers you a free pension review or says they can release your pension early, put the phone down, delete the email or put the leaflet in the bin.
- Check the FCA website at fca.org.uk. You can research any opportunities with their ScamSmart tool and check their Warning List to make sure the organisation you’re speaking with isn’t one to avoid.
- Report scams to Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime at actionfraud.police.uk.
And remember, we don’t mind if you hang up on us…
WTW are the UKRF’s administrators, meaning they manage your Fund benefits. WTW will never ‘cold call’ you, but they may give you a call if you’ve made a previous enquiry and there’s an ongoing issue being processed.
If you ever feel uncomfortable, suspicious or you receive a call out of the blue from someone who says they’re from WTW, take their name, hang up and contact the UKRF’s helpline on +44 (0) 1737 227 567. Try calling from a different phone if you can as scammers may keep a phone line open to intercept your call back.
As always, stay informed
For more ways on how to spot and report scam correspondence see this guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre.
You’ll also find more useful tips about keeping your money and personal data safe on this Barclays scams protection page and details about different types of scams on Action Fraud’s A-Z of fraud.
Finally, trust your gut. If something looks wrong, it probably is wrong.
Please note, external links and content are selected and reviewed when the page is published. However, the Trustee and WTW are not responsible for the content of external websites.