Selby said the successful campaign to ban pensions cold-calling in 2019 was never supposed to be just about pensions.
"We have always warned that the vast majority of fraud takes place outside of pensions, usually in the form of investment ‘opportunities’ that turn out to be at best missold and at worst entirely non-existent," he said.
“The ban on pensions cold-calling therefore needed to be seen as the beginning of a wider effort to tackle scams more generally and beef-up education. The pandemic and the subsequent cost-of-living crisis have both resulted in rising vulnerability in the UK which, depressingly, is like blood in the water to fraudsters. The pandemic in particular has also, understandably, likely meant progress in tackling scams has not been as fast as some would have liked."
He added: “The grim reality is that, even with new rules and tough enforcement, scammers will continue their attempts to plunder people’s hard-earned savings. It is therefore vital, regardless of what the government does, that Brits keep their wits about them and are cautious when they are contacted out of the blue by someone they don’t know about their finances. Much of this is common sense, but it could save you from financial misery.”
jane.matthews@ft.com
