If you think you have lost money to a pension scam, reporting it matters. It matters even if you are not sure any money can be recovered. Reporting helps investigators, it can protect other people, and it is often a necessary step before other kinds of help become available.
Key contacts for reporting
Why reporting matters, even if you are unsure
It is easy to feel that reporting is pointless if you doubt the money can come back. That feeling is understandable, but reporting still does real good, in several separate ways.
Reporting helps investigators build a picture of how a scam works. Fraud is often organised at scale, with the same scammers targeting many people using the same script, the same fake company name, or the same website. Your report might be the detail that connects several cases together and helps stop the same scam reaching someone else.
Reporting can also protect other people directly. Once a pattern is identified, warnings can be issued, websites can be taken down, and other pension savers can be alerted before they lose money too. Every report adds to that picture, however small it feels on its own.
For some types of financial protection or compensation process, reporting is also a necessary first step. You may be asked later whether you reported the matter to Action Fraud, and having already done so keeps your options open, rather than closed off.
Finally, reporting gives you an official record of what happened. This can matter later, whether for your own peace of mind, for insurance purposes, or for any future correspondence with your pension provider or a regulator.
Exactly who to report to, and how
There is more than one organisation involved in pension scams, and each one has a different role. Reporting to the right place, or to more than one place, gives you the best coverage.
Action Fraud is the right place to report the fraud itself. They are the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime. You can report online at actionfraud.police.uk, or by calling 0300 123 2040. This should usually be your first call.
The Financial Conduct Authority, known as the FCA (the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK's financial regulator), is the UK's financial regulator. Report to the FCA if a firm falsely claimed to be regulated, or if you want to check whether a firm or person was ever authorised in the first place. Their register is at register.fca.org.uk, and their ScamSmart tool helps you check firms and warns about common scam tactics.
Your own pension provider or scheme should also be told directly, as soon as possible. Many providers have their own fraud teams, and they may be able to take immediate action on your account, such as pausing a transfer or flagging your account for extra checks.
The Pensions Regulator, often shortened to TPR, regulates workplace pension schemes specifically. If your scam involves your workplace pension scheme, rather than a personal pension you arranged yourself, TPR may be a relevant organisation to involve, alongside Action Fraud.
If more than one of these applies to your situation, it is fine, and often sensible, to report to more than one. Each organisation looks at the situation from a slightly different angle, and one report does not replace the need for another.
What information to have ready when you report
You do not need to have everything perfectly prepared before you make contact. Reporting quickly always matters more than reporting with a complete file of paperwork. That said, having a few details ready can make the process faster and smoother for you.
Try to note the dates of any contact, starting with when you were first approached. If you spoke to the person or firm more than once, note those dates too, even roughly.
Write down any names that were used, even if you now believe they were false. Note any phone numbers, email addresses, or website addresses the person or firm gave you.
Gather any documents you have, including letters, emails, text messages, or links to any website. Keep these safe rather than deleting them, even if it is uncomfortable to look at them again.
If any money changed hands, note the amounts and the dates as closely as you can remember. Bank statements, transfer confirmations, or screenshots of payments are all useful if you have them.
If you do not have all of this information, report anyway. Investigators are used to working with partial detail, and providing what you can is always better than not reporting at all.
Reporting is always free. Action Fraud, the FCA, MoneyHelper, and Citizens Advice never charge for their help. Anyone asking for payment to "help" you report or recover money is a further warning sign.
What happens after you report
Once you report to Action Fraud, you will normally be given a crime reference number. Keep this number somewhere safe, since you may need to quote it later to your bank, your pension provider, or another organisation helping you.
Your report goes to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, which reviews reports centrally and looks for patterns across many cases, rather than treating each one entirely separately. This means individual follow-up does not always happen quickly, and sometimes it does not happen at all in the way you might expect.
This can feel frustrating, especially when you are waiting for news. It is worth being clear that this is a normal part of the process, not a sign that your report has been ignored or that nothing useful is happening with the information you provided.
If your case does lead to further contact, it may come from local police, from a specialist fraud team, or from your pension provider following up on their own checks. Keep any reference numbers and be ready to explain what you already reported, so you do not need to repeat everything from scratch each time.
It is honest to say that this process can take time, sometimes months, and that a clear outcome is not always guaranteed. Reporting remains worthwhile regardless, both for the reasons already covered and because it keeps your own options open for the future.
Reporting a scam advert or website
Many pension scams start with an advert on social media, a search engine, or a comparison website, rather than a phone call. If you saw an advert or website that led you into the scam, it is worth reporting the advert itself, not just the individual or firm behind it.
The FCA's ScamSmart tool accepts reports about suspicious adverts and websites, and can help remove some fraudulent content or add it to a public warning list. Reporting the advert can stop the same content reaching someone else who has not yet been targeted.
Social media platforms also have their own reporting tools for scam adverts and fake accounts. Using these alongside reporting to Action Fraud and the FCA gives the widest possible coverage, since each channel can act on a different part of the problem.
If someone claimed to be a financial adviser
Some pension scams involve someone claiming to be a qualified financial adviser, sometimes using a real-sounding name or a genuine adviser's details without their knowledge. If this happened to you, checking the FCA register is a useful step, both to report the impersonation and to understand who was actually involved.
If a genuine adviser's identity was used without their knowledge, the FCA needs to know, since it may affect other clients of that adviser too. Report this clearly when you contact the FCA, including any documents that used the adviser's name or firm details.
If you are reporting on behalf of someone else
If you are helping a parent, partner, or friend who has been scammed, you can still contact Action Fraud, the FCA, and other organisations on their behalf, provided you make clear who you are and, where relevant, that you have their agreement to act for them.
Being methodical and calm on their behalf can make a real difference, particularly if the person affected is finding it difficult to talk about what happened. Keep the same non-judgemental tone with them that you would want if the situation were reversed.
If the person affected does not yet want to report it themselves, gently explain why reporting still helps, even without a guarantee of getting money back. Respect their pace, but encourage them not to delay too long, since some avenues are more time-sensitive than others.
Keeping records of your own report
After you report to Action Fraud, the FCA, or your pension provider, keep a simple written record of what you did and when. Note the date you contacted each organisation, any reference number you were given, and the name of anyone you spoke to, if you have it.
This record can be useful if you need to follow up later, or if you are later asked by another organisation, such as the Pensions Ombudsman or your bank, what steps you have already taken. Having a clear timeline ready to hand saves you from having to reconstruct events from memory under pressure.
A simple notebook, a document on your computer, or even a set of dated emails to yourself are all perfectly good ways to keep this record. It does not need to be formal, only clear enough that you, or someone helping you, can follow it later.
Common questions about reporting
Many people wonder whether it is worth reporting if they think the scammer is based overseas. It is still worth reporting. Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau work with international partners in some cases, and even where individual prosecution is unlikely, the pattern of reports still helps build wider intelligence and warnings.
Some people worry that reporting will take up too much time or feel too complicated. In practice, an initial report to Action Fraud usually takes well under half an hour, and you are not committing to anything further just by making that first report.
Others wonder whether it is too late to report, if some time has already passed since the scam happened. It is not too late. Reports made weeks, months, or even longer after the event are still useful, and still worth making, even if the immediate chance of freezing a payment has passed.
Finally, some people are unsure whether what happened to them really counts as a scam, or whether it might just have been a bad investment decision. If in doubt, report it anyway and let Action Fraud or the FCA make that assessment. It costs you nothing to ask, and getting a clear answer either way can bring useful peace of mind.
If you do not hear anything for a long time
It is common to report a scam and then hear very little for weeks or months afterwards. This does not necessarily mean nothing is happening. Many fraud cases are reviewed as part of a much larger pattern of reports, and individual updates are not always sent automatically at every stage.
If you want an update, you can contact Action Fraud again and quote your crime reference number to ask about progress. There may not always be a detailed answer available, particularly while a wider investigation is ongoing, but asking is a reasonable and normal thing to do.
It can help to manage your own expectations around timing. Fraud investigations, especially those involving money moved between several accounts or across borders, often take a long time to progress, if they progress to a clear individual outcome at all. This is a limitation of the system, not a reflection of how seriously your case has been taken.
While you wait, focus on the things within your control: making sure no further money is at risk, keeping your own records in order, and reaching out to MoneyHelper or Citizens Advice if you want to talk through what else might help in your particular situation.
Where to get support alongside reporting
Reporting a scam does not need to be something you handle entirely alone, and there is support available at every stage of the process, at no cost to you.
Citizens Advice offers free legal and financial guidance, and can help you understand any paperwork, letters, or contracts connected to what happened. They can also help you think through practical next steps in plain language.
MoneyHelper, run by the Money and Pensions Service, offers free and impartial guidance specifically about pensions. They can talk through your situation, explain your options, and point you towards other relevant organisations if needed.
Both of these services are completely free, and neither will ever ask you to pay upfront for their help. If anyone contacting you about your case does ask for payment, that is a strong warning sign of a further scam, and worth reporting separately to Action Fraud.
Talking to someone you trust, alongside these organisations, can also help. Reporting a scam and dealing with its aftermath can feel isolating, and having someone to talk it through with, even informally, often makes each step feel more manageable.
A final word on reporting
Reporting a pension scam can feel like a small act in the face of something that has caused you real harm. It is not small. Every report adds to a wider picture that helps investigators, protects other savers, and keeps your own options open. Taking this step is a sensible, practical response to something that was done to you, not a formality to get through.