If you have been scammed, or you think you may have been, you do not have to work everything out alone. Several organisations offer free help, each with a different role. This page explains what each one does, so you know exactly who to turn to.
Who does what
Action Fraud
Action Fraud is the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime. Their job is to record what happened to you, giving you a crime reference number, and to pass your report to investigators who look for patterns across many cases.
Contact Action Fraud to report a pension scam, whether it happened yesterday or some time ago. You can report online at actionfraud.police.uk, or by calling 0300 123 2040. This is usually the right first call for reporting the crime itself.
Action Fraud does not investigate every case individually, and it cannot promise to get your money back. Its role is reporting and intelligence gathering, which still matters even when an individual investigation does not follow straight away.
The FCA and ScamSmart
The Financial Conduct Authority, known as the FCA (the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK's financial regulator), sets rules for financial firms and advisers, and keeps a public register of who is authorised to give financial advice or run financial products.
Use the FCA register at register.fca.org.uk to check whether a firm or person was genuinely authorised. Use their ScamSmart tool to check specific warning signs, report suspicious firms or adverts, and read about common tactics scammers use.
The FCA can investigate unauthorised firms and take action against them, but it does not itself recover individual losses or pay compensation. Its strength lies in regulating the market and warning the public, rather than acting as a claims service.
MoneyHelper and the Money and Pensions Service
MoneyHelper is run by the Money and Pensions Service, and it offers free, impartial guidance on pensions and money matters generally. It is government-backed, and it never charges for its help.
Contact MoneyHelper if you want to talk through your situation with someone knowledgeable, understand your options, or simply get a clear, calm explanation of what a scam means for your pension. Call 0800 011 3797 or visit moneyhelper.org.uk.
MoneyHelper does not investigate fraud or run legal complaints processes itself, but it can explain clearly which other organisation is right for your particular question, and can help you understand documents or letters you may have received.
The Pension Protection Fund
The Pension Protection Fund, usually shortened to the PPF, protects members of eligible defined benefit workplace pension schemes if their employer becomes insolvent and the scheme cannot meet its promises.
This is a different situation to fraud. The PPF does not exist to help with money lost to a scam. It exists specifically for cases where an employer sponsoring a defined benefit pension scheme fails financially, leaving the scheme unable to pay full benefits on its own.
If you are affected by both an employer insolvency and a separate scam, it is worth treating these as two different issues, each handled by different organisations, rather than assuming one covers the other.
The Pensions Regulator
The Pensions Regulator, often shortened to TPR, regulates workplace pension schemes in the UK. Their role includes protecting members of workplace schemes and acting against certain scheme-level problems, including some forms of fraud connected to how a scheme is run.
Contact TPR if your concern relates specifically to your workplace pension scheme, rather than a personal pension you arranged yourself, particularly if you believe the scheme itself, or those running it, have acted improperly.
TPR does not typically handle individual crime reports in the way Action Fraud does, and reporting to TPR does not replace reporting to Action Fraud. The two organisations play different, complementary roles.
Citizens Advice
Citizens Advice offers free, independent guidance on legal, financial, and practical matters, including situations connected to pension scams. Their advisers can help you understand paperwork, contracts, or letters, and can help you think through next steps in plain language.
Citizens Advice can be reached online at citizensadvice.org.uk, and many local Citizens Advice offices also offer support in person or by phone, which can be especially helpful if you find phone calls or online forms difficult to manage right now.
Citizens Advice does not investigate fraud or regulate financial firms, but it is often a good starting point if you feel overwhelmed by the number of organisations involved and want help working out what to do next.
None of these organisations will ever ask you to pay a fee for their help, and none will ask you to transfer money to a "safe account". Treat any request like that as a warning sign, whoever it claims to be from.
Looking after your emotional wellbeing
Being scammed can be distressing, and it is completely normal to feel a wide range of emotions afterwards, including shock, anger, sadness, or embarrassment. None of these feelings are a sign that you have done anything wrong.
Speaking to someone, whether a trusted friend, a family member, or one of the organisations listed on this page, can help. You do not have to handle this alone, and reaching out for support is a sensible, practical step, not a weakness.
If you are finding it hard to cope, your GP can also be a good starting point, and can point you towards further support if you need it. Many people find that talking things through, even briefly, helps them feel steadier as they work through the practical steps ahead.
How these organisations work together
It can feel confusing to be told about several different organisations at once, especially when you are already dealing with something distressing. It helps to think of them as a team, each covering a different part of the picture, rather than a list of places passing you around.
Action Fraud focuses on recording the crime and feeding information to investigators. The FCA focuses on regulation, checking firms, and warning the public. MoneyHelper focuses on guidance about your pension and your options. Citizens Advice focuses on practical and legal support with paperwork and next steps. The Pensions Regulator focuses on workplace scheme issues specifically. The Pension Protection Fund focuses on a different situation entirely, connected to employer insolvency rather than fraud.
You are not expected to contact every organisation on this list. Start with whichever one matches your immediate need, and let them guide you if another organisation would help too. Most of these organisations are used to pointing people towards each other when it is useful.
What to expect when you call
Calling any of these organisations for the first time can feel daunting, especially if you are feeling anxious or upset. It can help to know roughly what to expect before you pick up the phone.
Most calls begin with someone asking you to explain, in your own words, what happened. You do not need a polished account. A rough timeline and the key details are enough to get started, and the person on the other end will usually ask follow-up questions to fill in gaps.
You will not be judged for what happened, and you will not be asked to justify why you trusted the person or firm involved. These calls are handled by people used to supporting scam victims, and a calm, practical tone is standard.
If you find it hard to talk on the phone, most of these organisations also offer online forms or webchat as an alternative. Use whichever method feels more manageable for you, since getting the report or query made matters more than which channel you use.
If you are helping someone else make contact
If you are supporting a parent, partner, or friend, you can help them contact any of these organisations, or make contact on their behalf where that is appropriate. Being present, or making the call together, can make the process feel less overwhelming for them.
Encourage them at their own pace, rather than pushing them to act faster than feels comfortable, except where genuine time pressure applies, such as a transfer that has not yet completed. In those situations, gently explain why speed matters, without adding to any sense of blame or panic.
If language, hearing, or other communication needs make phone calls difficult, ask the organisation directly about alternative contact methods. Most, including Action Fraud, MoneyHelper, and Citizens Advice, offer accessible ways to get in touch, including online reporting tools, textphone services, and translation support in some cases.
If you are worried about a family member being targeted again
If a family member has already been scammed once, they may be at higher risk of being targeted again, sometimes by the same criminals pretending to be a different, unconnected organisation. It is worth having a gentle conversation about this possibility, without causing unnecessary alarm.
Simple habits can help going forward, such as agreeing that any unexpected approach about pensions or investments will be discussed with a trusted person before anything is agreed or paid. This is not about removing anyone's independence, but about having a second, calm perspective available when high-pressure situations arise again.
MoneyHelper and Citizens Advice can both offer general guidance on protecting yourself or a family member from future approaches, without needing a new scam to have already happened.
Spotting an organisation that is not genuine
Sadly, scammers sometimes pretend to be one of these genuine organisations, hoping to catch people off guard a second time. Knowing a few simple checks can help you tell a genuine contact from a false one.
Genuine organisations like Action Fraud, the FCA, MoneyHelper, and Citizens Advice will never ask you to pay a fee to access their help, and they will never ask you to transfer money to a "safe account" over the phone. Any request like this is a clear warning sign, whoever it claims to be from.
If you are ever unsure whether a call, email, or letter is genuinely from one of these organisations, hang up or stop responding, and contact the organisation directly using the phone number or website listed on this page, rather than any number or link given to you in the suspicious contact itself.
Genuine organisations are also generally happy for you to call back later, or to verify who they are before continuing a conversation. Pressure to act immediately, or reluctance to let you check independently, is a sign that something is wrong.
Questions to ask yourself if you are unsure who to contact
If you are still unsure which organisation is right for your situation, a few simple questions can help point you in the right direction.
Ask yourself whether you want to report a crime, in which case Action Fraud is the right starting point. Ask whether you want to check if a firm was ever authorised, in which case the FCA register is the right tool. Ask whether you want general guidance about your pension and what to do next, in which case MoneyHelper is designed exactly for that. Ask whether you need help with paperwork, contracts, or a wider legal or financial question, in which case Citizens Advice can help.
If your concern is specifically about your employer's workplace pension scheme, whether that is fraud-related or connected to your employer's financial position, The Pensions Regulator and the Pension Protection Fund are the two organisations most likely to be relevant, depending on the exact nature of the concern.
There is no harm in contacting more than one organisation if you remain unsure. Each one is used to explaining, quickly and clearly, whether they are the right organisation for your situation, or whether someone else would be a better fit.
Supporting yourself while you wait for responses
After contacting one or more of these organisations, it is common to wait some time before hearing back, particularly from more formal processes such as a complaint to an ombudsman. This waiting period can feel difficult, especially alongside the stress of the original scam.
Try to build small, manageable routines while you wait, rather than checking constantly for updates. Set yourself realistic points to follow up, such as every few weeks, and use the time in between to focus on your day-to-day life and wellbeing as much as you are able to.
Keep a simple, organised record of who you have contacted, when, and any reference numbers you were given. This makes any future calls quicker and less stressful, since you will not need to explain everything again from the very beginning each time.
Remember that reaching out to any of these organisations is a sign of taking sensible, practical action in a difficult situation, not a sign that something else has gone wrong. You are doing the right things, even while you wait for answers.
A final note
Every organisation listed on this page exists, at least in part, to help people in exactly your situation. None of them will charge you for their support, and none of them expect you to have everything figured out before you call. Reaching out is a reasonable, sensible step, whichever organisation you choose to start with.