A FORDINGBRIDGE financial adviser is warning people to stay on their guard and not fall victim to pension scammers.

Karen Rayner, director of chartered financial planners The Wealth Care Partnership (TWCP), said she was hearing concerns about fraud on a every week basis.

And she believes people may be sleepwalking into trouble because they are not taking expert advice.

This follows changes to the law enabling people over 55 to more easily access their pension savings, including being able to take lump sums.

Karen, who co-founded TWCP in 2007 with co-director Tim Anstee, said: “It has become so complicated it is easier for people to become defrauded.

“Criminals are clever, technology-savvy and can relieve victims of their hard-earned pensions in an instant.”

She added that people are more vulnerable if they have never consulted an adviser before.

She strongly recommended no one should take any major decisions about pension cash and possible future care needs without taking independent advice.

“People are living longer; they are dealing with their own busy lives and possible retirement and at the same time dealing with the needs of their ageing parents.

“There is often a feeling of guilt, emotion and illness, such as early stage dementia, all factors which criminals can use to their advantage.”

The new Care Act 2014, could add to the difficulty with pension pots being included in the means test threshold.