Pension

Many people as they approach retirement worry about having enough money to last. This anxiety attracts scammers who prey on this feat and promise high return, low-risk investments to seniors.

Means of contact

• Phone
• Email
• Advertising

Description of scam
With pension scams, fraudsters offer to unlock pensions funds and claim to be able to convert pensions into tax-free cash. A typical version of this scam involves transferring lock-in funds to a self-directed RRSP and purchasing funds in a private company who makes a promise to "loan" the owner 70-80% of the funds to be paid back at a later time.

Of course, the investment is worthless and in fact, you may end up paying taxes on the cash you never received. Victims lose their money and their retirement dreams.

Tactics used

• Offers cash in hand tax-free
• Convinces the pensioner to put the retirement funds into a high-return, low-risk investment, which are actually very risky or don't exist at all