Security and fraud

An advance-fee scam normally involves the promise of a sum of money at a later date, in return for an upfront fee.

How it works

You could be contacted by letter, phone or e-mail by a person misrepresenting themselves as working for an established company, like Vanguard.

This person will then try to coax you into paying an up-front fee to enable the release of money to you, - usually an amount larger than the fraudulent advance fee.

In order to make their email/letter appear more genuine, the fraudsters may include graphics, official-sounding language and sometimes names similar to those of employees of the legitimate company that they are cloning.

In the case of asset management firms like Vanguard, these scams can involve investments in or reclaiming lost investment assets including, Carbon Credits, Fine Wine, Art and other stock investments – to name a few.

Vanguard will neither make unsolicited contact with you via phone, letter or email, nor ask for up front or any other fees to recover money lost (to fraudsters).

What to do

If you have been contacted by someone who claims to be representing Vanguard in these types of circumstances, please do one or more of the following

• call us on 0800 587 0460
• check the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) website 
• call the FCA to report on 0800 111 6768 directly

How it works

You get an email from a person or company that looks genuine asking you to click a link for more information or to verify your details.

If you click on the link, typically this link downloads malicious software (malware) onto your device. This malware then lets fraudsters access any stored details.

What you should do

Make sure you update your device with anti-virus software and a good firewall. Never click on links in unsolicited emails from people or companies you don’t recognise. If you’re not sure, delete the email or block the sender.

How it works

You will normally be contacted by a company or someone out of the blue by phone, email, text, or even drawn to an advert online. The scammers may have been introduced to you by a friend or family member who is also unknowingly being scammed.

Scammers will make false claims to gain your trust. For example they may:

• say they or their company is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or that as they are not providing advice themselves, they don't have to be FCA authorised
• say they are acting on the behalf of the FCA or “Pension Wise”, the government service
• devise attractive offers to persuade you to transfer your pension to them (or to release funds from it). The funds are often stolen or invested in unusual, high-risk and/or worthless investments like overseas property, renewable energy bonds, forestry, or storage units
• be articulate, displaying financial expertise, with convincing websites, testimonials and materials that are hard to differentiate from the real thing

What to do

If you have received contact from someone who claims to be representing Vanguard in these types of circumstances, please do one or more of the following

• If you have received contact from someone who claims to be representing Vanguard in these types of circumstances, please call us on 0800 587 0460.
• If your investments are not held with Vanguard and you have agreed to transfer your pension and now suspect a scam, contact your pension provider immediately – they may be able to halt the transfer.
• Report it to your local police and / or Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040.
• Report it to the FCA by calling their Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768.

For more information regarding Pension scams, please use the below links:

• Pensions Regulator website
• Action Fraud website, which includes 4 simple steps to protect yourself from Pension scams

How it works

You could be contacted by letter, phone or email, by a person misrepresenting themselves as working for an established company.

They may also use fraudulent websites, some provide online forms to complete in order to contact you to steal your money as well as steal your identity.

The fraudster contacting you will try and coax you into transferring money to them, in exchange for non-existent or worthless bonds or shares.

In order to make themselves seem more genuine, the fraudster may use logos of genuine companies, names of real employees, FCA registration numbers, postal addresses and telephone numbers of genuine companies.

More information about these types of scams is available on the UK regulators website.

What to do

If you have received contact from someone who claims to be representing Vanguard in these or similar circumstances, please do one or more of the following:

Call us on 0800 587 0460

Check the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) website.

Call the FCA directly on 0800 111 6768