Pension scams: Britons warned over criminals offering inheritance tax loopholes

T he caller pitches a great deal. Shift the moneysaved in your pension and reinvest it in a scheme overseas where you can avoid it being caught under next year’s changes to the UK’s inheritance tax (IHT) system . From April next year, any money left in a defined contribution pension after your death, which is most workplace and all private pensions, will be pulled into the IHT net. The forthcoming change has caused you some anxiety so this opportunity sounds promising. But the new scheme does not exist. It has been fabricated by criminals aiming to exploit people’s concerns. One of the largest pension providers in the UK, Standard Life, has warned that scams like this will become more common before the changes in April 2027. Although the new rules will not affect everyone – the basic tax-free threshold for an estate is £325,000 – fraudsters will play on any confusion to try to convince people to move their money out of their pension, says Donna Walsh from Standard Life. “With these changes, people become uncertain and a little bit confused around what they can do, what will and will not happen. And that’s exactly the type of conditions that scammers are set to exploit,” she adds. What it looks like The scams often start with emails, calls or messages that come out of the blue. They might offer a free review of your pension or access to a scheme, or investment, with high returns, often located overseas. …