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<p>DWP is working across government and with regulators to monitor and respond to
any increases in transfers or pension scams. To date, this monitoring has revealed
little evidence to demonstrate an increase in either transfers or scams across the
industry as a whole as confirmed by the independent regulator. This has been confirmed
by responses from industry. The Government will continue to monitor and respond to
any emerging evidence.</p><p> </p><p>The Government established Project Bloom, a cross-government
taskforce that brings together law enforcement, government and industry to share intelligence,
raise awareness of and the reporting of scams through public communication campaigns,
and take enforcement action where appropriate.</p><p> </p><p>Please see links below
for more information about the joint statement from Regulators and the Money Advice
Service, and help available, produced by the Pension Protection Fund and supported
by government.</p><p><a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions"
target="_blank">https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/covid-19-savers-stay-calm-dont-rush-financial-decisions</a></p><p><a
href="https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf"
target="_blank">https://www.ppf.co.uk/sites/default/files/file-2020-05/COVID-19-and-your-pension.pdf</a></p><p>
</p><p>The Government continues to work with Regulators and enforcement agencies to
prevent scams and take appropriate action. In the period March - July 2020, 116 reports
of possible pension fraud were received by Action Fraud, compared to 179 for the same
period in 2019.</p><p> </p><p>Project Bloom has identified that the methodology of
scammers is continually evolving, moving away from the traditional type of theft of
peoples pensions through setting up a sham scheme, towards investment related fraud.
Investment related fraud includes persuading individuals to invest in ventures that
do not exist or using multiple charging structures that the member is not aware of.</p>
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