The ITV programme exposed the cold calling pension service that’s tricking Brits about their hard earned cash.
According to the treasury, a whopping 11 million people are cold called about their pensions every year.
It has prompted Chancellor Philip Hammond to propose a ban on cold calling in the UK.
An ITV reporter went undercover at Cherish Premier Wealth in the West Midlands, where staff are advised to make 300 cold calls each day.
Call centre manager Qasim was captured on the undercover video telling his employees that customers are motivated by either fear or greed.
He said: “It’s to promote that fear. To trigger that emotion, to get that word stuck in his head, because that’s a big word that is, danger.”
One of the female employees who was ‘training’ the undercover reporter told her to “just put them back on” if anyone hangs up.
Leading pensions expert Tom McPhail was interviewed by Tonight host Adam Shaw about the training of staff at the call centre.
Of Qasim’s training advice, Tom said: “I bet he could quote sections of Wolf of Wall Street back to you. The whole thing is very high pressure. The good aspects of pension freedoms is the fact that you have control over your money, you have the freedom to take your money out when you want.
“However, that has opened the door for people who don’t have the customer’s best interests at heart, to persuade them to invest their retirement savings in investments which are either very risky or in some cases downright fraudulent.”
The people exposed in the undercover footage “denied the various accusations” against them.
Cherish Premier Wealth said its call centre manager was simply “indulging in a bit of sales puff that overstated his position”.
Host Adam interviewed one of the people affected by the cold calling scheme.
Allan Gare, 56, received a phone call from a previous version of the company, called Cherish Wealth Management.
The former military engineer said he was advised to transfer his pension into high risk investments without being made fully aware of what he was doing.
Since the incident happened in 2012, Allan has been left with £1,125 in his pension fund.
He said: “I could be sitting and enjoying the sun because I could have retired. But that dream has gone. My pension has totally zeroed.”
The Chancellor’s proposed ban on cold calls has been put on hold until after the general election in June.
Even if it is passed, there is no way for the UK Government to stop any international cold calls, an option that Cherish – in ITV’s undercover footage – admitted it has already started to explore.
Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has revealed his advice how to keep your pension safe.
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