![\"shutterstock_343236656_large-web\"](\"http:\/\/www.wealthatwork.co.uk\/lseg\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2020\/10\/shutterstock_343236656_large-web.jpg\")
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Given the many recent redundancies announced, it is inevitable that as coronavirus continues, more redundancies are likely.<\/p>\n
Scammers often see turbulent times like these as an opportunity. Unfortunately, people that receive a lump sum of money through redundancy pay can be particularly vulnerable to being targeted. For example, the BBC\u00a0reported on a case where fraudsters had taken \u00a325,000 from a doctor\u2019s redundancy payment and pension savings, and Surrey Police\u00a0has issued a warning about investment fraud after a woman looking to invest her redundancy payment was scammed out of \u00a3275,000.<\/p>\n
WEALTH at work, has highlighted the common things people say when explaining why they fell for a scam to hopefully help people to avoid losing their redundancy pay to fraudsters;<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. \u201cThey looked so professional\u201d –<\/strong>\u00a0Scams look\u00a0and sound\u00a0legitimate, which is why people are hoodwinked. They often have very professional looking websites and literature that can make it hard to distinguish from the real thing.<\/p>\n 2. \u201cIt was a once in a lifetime opportunity\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>–<\/strong>\u00a0If an investment offers the opportunity of a lifetime, individuals should be very suspicious. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.<\/p>\n 3. \u201cThey seemed so friendly and knew so much about me\u201d –<\/strong>The people that run scams are clever and may have been able to get hold of an individual\u2019s personal details. Individuals should be aware to not let their knowledge and friendliness catch them off guard.<\/p>\n 4. \u201cIf I didn\u2019t decide quickly the opportunity would be lost\u201d –\u00a0<\/strong>Genuine advisers will never rush individuals to make a decision.\u00a0Anything that talks about limited time offers is likely to be a scam.<\/p>\n 5. \u201cThey said they could help me to access my pension early\u201d \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0When made redundant, some individuals may want to access their pension savings. Pensions can normally only be accessed after the age of 55, unless in cases of seriously ill health. In normal circumstances, if someone promises to release a pension early they are lying and it is a scam.<\/p>\n 6. \u201cI didn\u2019t know how to check them out\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 Whatever individuals are planning to do with their redundancy money, they should check that the company is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as if they\u2019re not, it\u2019s probably a scam. The FCA\u2019s financial register can be found\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n 7. \u201cThey kept contacting me and eventually I just gave in\u201d –<\/strong>\u00a0Scammers will use technology and try to contact individuals through various means such as social media, texts, telephone calls and emails. If individuals are in doubt, they should ignore it and hang up the phone or delete the message. Phone companies should be able to help by blocking any offending numbers and email providers can help to block emails from specific senders. Individuals should be aware of what they share through social media and check that their privacy settings are as secure as possible.<\/p>\n 8. \u201cI didn\u2019t report the scam straight away\u201d –<\/strong>\u00a0If individuals think that they are being scammed, they must report it on the FCAs\u00a0Scam Smart website<\/a>\u00a0and to\u00a0Action Fraud<\/a>. Not only may they be able to help them, but they will be able to help others from falling for the same scam.<\/p>\n Jonathan Watts-Lay, Director, WEALTH at work, comments;<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWhile redundancy can be a really stressful time, a difficult situation can be made worse by unscrupulous fraudsters who won\u2019t think twice about scamming people out of their redundancy pay.\u201d<\/p>\n He adds; \u201cThis money is a lifeline for many and it is crucial that people are protected from making disastrous mistakes when they are most vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n Watts-Lay concludes; \u201cMany employers offer financial education, guidance and regulated financial advice to help people make the most of their redundancy pay. Speak to your employer to find out what help is available.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Given the many recent redundancies announced, it is inevitable that as coronavirus continues, more redundancies are likely. Scammers often see turbulent times like these as an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/lseg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/lseg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/lseg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/lseg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/lseg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/lseg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":524,"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/lseg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521\/revisions\/524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/lseg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/lseg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/lseg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/lseg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}