The five most common pension scams revealed

The advent of pension freedoms means that nowadays, pensions are a scammer's dream. Overnight, retirees suddenly have access to tens of thousands of pounds, and complete freedom over what to do with it. All scammers have to do is persuade them to hand over chunk of the cash. Figures from the City of London Police show that pension scammers are making a fortune from the new rules - as the money lost to scammers more than trebled during the month after pension freedom was introduced.

The best way to protect yourself is to be aware of the most common scams - and be able to spot them if you are approached by a scammer.

1. Guaranteed returns

In a time of low interest rates, retirees are desperate for any investment that will bring guaranteed high levels of returns. Scammers will often say their investments can manage guaranteed returns of 8% or 9% growth a year.

2. Loopholes

The scammer may tell you they know of a way to get more than 25% tax free cash - or to get your hands on your pension before the age of 55. Neither is possible, so anyone promising this is selling you a lie. If you fall for this, and withdraw money before the age of 55, you will face tax of up to 50% of the cash you take out - as well as charges as high as 30%.

3. Property investment

Speculative property investment scams are common - particularly those based offshore. The scammers will tell you their unusual property investment has the potential to grow exponentially. In effect, even if the property scheme exists, they are long-term investments that can never be guaranteed to make money - and may prove especially difficult to sell when you need the money - let alone to sell at a profit.

4. Unregulated funds

If an unregulated fund goes under, you will lose everything, because there's no protection. The funds will go to great lengths to sound as legitimate as possible, and will even list the names of regulated advisers they claim to be associated with - but this offers no protection at all. If you use an unregulated adviser, meanwhile, you are opening yourself up to being sold a string of scam investments.

5. Tricking you into saying you are high risk
Some investments are highly risky, so in order to be able to recommend them, the scammers will have to make sure that the pensioner is knowledgeable and happy with high risk investments. They may try to trick people into saying this, and include it in paperwork that has to be signed.

The Money Advice Trust also highlights warning signs. These include being contacted out of the blue, being pressured into making a decision, and not being given details of the firm running the investment deal. They say the scammers will sometimes pretend to be from the Money Advice Trust or Pension Wise.

If you think you are being targeted by a scammer, they recommend you contact the Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) on 0300 123 1047 before you make any investment decisions.