A pension advisory business has reported 11 possible pension scam companies that are appearing in Google ads or search results.
Portal Financial said these included firms offering pension release to people under the age of 55.

It expressed concerns that the advertisements makes them likely to appear to a large number of people.

Research by the firm shows an increase in the number of scams people experienced around the introduction of pension freedoms, with a higher incidence the closer a person was to 55.

Jamie Smith-Thompson, managing director of Portal Financial, said: “People need to be diligent in checking that firms are regulated. This year alone we have reported 11 companies to Google in the hope that their adverts are removed, and we have done this in the past as well.”

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Last month a You Gov poll for Retirement Advantage suggested one in five over 55s may have been targeted by scammers looking to trick people out of their savings.

The poll of over 1,000 adults found that 17% of over 50s and 20% of over 55s have been approached by a company offering to help them access their pension early, for instance through legal loopholes or a one-off investment opportunity.

Mr Smith-Thompson said: “Firms offering scams often sound very convincing and some even have customer reviews, but it’s important to look closely – they usually say they are not FCA regulated. If they do not display an FCA number then they are not regulated.

“Unregulated firms cannot be reported on the FCA website, so people often do not know what to do. To help people report companies they believe to be running a scam, we have contacted Action Fraud, who have confirmed that people can report scams to them.

“Although scams are nothing new, the concern is retirees are an obvious target because they have easier access to their pensions than ever before.”

Portal said that because education is key to helping people stay safe it has a dedicated scam awareness FAQs page to assist people pick out the fraudsters more easily. This includes the report of its recent scams survey.