Ombudsman warns Work and Pensions Committee over Covid-19 scams 'inundation'

£5m lost to fraud between February and June

Hope William-Smith
clock • 2 min read

Pensions Ombudsman Anthony Arter has raised concerns about the increase in pension scam activity during the coronavirus pandemic in a virtual meeting with the Work and Pensions Committee (WPC).

Arter - who is also the Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman - appeared before the WPC yesterday (8 July) as part of its regular scrutiny of public organisations accountable to parliament. The session considered the priorities and challenges likely to face Arter in the coming year, including a potential increased caseload from scam victims in the wake of Covid-19. A total of £5.1m worth of losses to fraud were reported across the UK between February and June, according to ActionFraud, including more than 11,000 coronavirus-themed scams with the most common of which were pensions-related....

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