Expats are a frequent, deliberate target for pension scams – living overseas, often without easy access to familiar UK advisers, makes it harder to check credentials and easier for unregulated operators to sound convincing. Here’s what to actually watch for.
Why Expats Specifically Get Targeted
Scammers targeting pensions know that expats are frequently sitting on old, forgotten workplace pensions, are geographically distant from easy in-person verification, and sometimes feel less connected to UK regulatory protections once they’ve moved abroad. None of that actually reduces your rights or the rules that apply – but it does make expats a more attractive target, and cold approaches specifically about “your UK pension” have become common enough that it’s worth knowing the warning signs before you’re ever contacted.
Warning Sign: Unsolicited Contact
A call, text, email or social media message out of nowhere about your pension – particularly one that already seems to know details about you – is a significant warning sign. Legitimate advisers don’t typically cold-contact people about specific pensions; leads usually come through referrals or someone actively seeking advice, not the other way around.
Warning Sign: Pressure to Act Quickly
Genuine pension advice, particularly anything involving a transfer, takes time – fact-finding, analysis, and for defined benefit pensions, a formal regulated process. Any offer that comes with urgency – a deadline expiring in days, a “limited time” bonus rate, pressure to sign before you’ve had time to think – is a serious red flag. Time pressure is a scammer’s tool precisely because it stops you from checking things properly.
Warning Sign: Early Access Before Age 55
Accessing a UK pension before age 55 (57 from April 2028) outside very specific circumstances is not legitimate, and any offer promising early access – sometimes called “pension liberation” – is almost always a scam, frequently resulting in a substantial and unrecoverable HMRC tax charge on top of losing the pension itself.
Warning Sign: Guaranteed High Returns
Genuine investment returns aren’t guaranteed, and any pension-related offer promising fixed, unusually high returns – particularly from unfamiliar or exotic overseas investments – should be treated with serious scepticism. If it sounds too good to be true relative to normal market returns, it almost certainly is.
Warning Sign: Unregulated or Unverifiable Firms
Always check a firm and adviser’s regulatory status independently – the FCA Register for UK-regulated advice, or the equivalent regulator for wherever the adviser claims to be licensed – rather than taking their word for it or trusting a certificate they’ve shown you. A legitimate adviser will never be uncomfortable with you checking this yourself.
Warning Sign: Complex, Unfamiliar Overseas Structures
Be particularly cautious of pension arrangements dressed up to resemble a QROPS but that don’t appear on HMRC’s actual recognised list, or overseas investment structures you can’t independently verify. Fake or unrecognised schemes have been used repeatedly to defraud expats of pension savings, sometimes wrapped in genuine-sounding regulatory language.
What to Do If You Think You’ve Been Targeted
If you’ve already engaged with something that now feels wrong, stop any further payments or transfers immediately, and seek independent advice from a verified, regulated source before proceeding further – free guidance is available through MoneyHelper, independent of any adviser or provider you’ve been dealing with.
How to Check Before You Ever Get This Far
The simplest protection is checking credentials before engaging at all – verify regulatory status independently, never act under time pressure, and remember that legitimate pension advice, especially for anything involving a transfer, is a process with proper documentation at every stage, not a quick decision made over a single phone call.
Where to Go From Here
Our Expat Pension Planning hub covers legitimate pension routes in full detail, and our QROPS page covers how to verify a scheme against HMRC’s recognised list specifically. For our wider services, visit our Premier Expat Mortgages homepage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I access my pension before age 55 legitimately?
Only in very limited circumstances, such as serious ill-health – any general offer of early access is almost certainly a scam.
How do I check if an adviser is legitimate?
Check the FCA Register (or the equivalent regulator for their claimed jurisdiction) independently, rather than trusting documents they’ve shown you directly.
What should I do if I’ve already transferred into something that seems suspicious?
Stop any further payments immediately and seek independent advice from a verified source as soon as possible.
Get in touch if you’d like a second, independent opinion on any pension approach you’ve received.
