The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has become the latest organisation to warn individuals against would-be fraudsters, confirming that its brand is being used by scammers.

In a statement, EIOPA said that it had been made aware of recent fraudulent activities in which scammers falsely claiming to represent its institution are requesting payments or personal information from individuals.

In particular, scammers are misusing  EIOPA’s name and logo to impersonate an EIOPA staff member to trick individuals or companies into sending money or disclosing personal or other confidential information. 

According to EIOPA, these scams can happen through post, email, phone calls, text messages, social media or via fake documents, with an example document provided online to help individuals know what to look out for. 

EIOPA said it condemns these fraudulent activities and remains committed to protecting the public from such attempts.

It also shared tips on how to spot a scam, and confirmed that EIOPA does not contact private individuals directly regarding services or the supervision of companies, and that it also never requests payments or personal information from private individuals, nor does it charge them for its services.

EIOPA also encouraged the public to remain cautious and verify the authenticity of any communication claiming to come from the authority.

This comes amid a growing wave of concern around fraudulent scams, as several pension providers have issued warnings to savers over the past year, including Keva, Varma, and Ilmarinen. 

Indeed, the issue of pension fraud is not limited to pension providers, as the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) has also recently issued a warning regarding cases where unknown individuals falsely presented themselves as employees of the institution, as has the UK's pensions ombudsman.

In addition to this, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) recently said that it was “worried about hacks” on pension funds and other financial institutions, warning that the “threat of a cyber-attack on the financial sector is constant”.

Amid the recent rise in pension fraud, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) in the UK has outlined plans to strengthen its defences against pension scams by stepping up the multi-agency response it leads through closer collaboration, strategic partnerships and improved intelligence.

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