As a ban on cold-calling comes into force, Rachel Pinto, partner in Herbert Smith Freehills employment, pensions and incentives practice, argues that this is a good first step, but that public awareness to the threat of scams must continue to be raised.

She says:

"This is an important, albeit limited, step in the fight against pension scams, but the industry and policymakers cannot rest on their laurels. Public awareness to this threat must continue to be raised with a clear message being sent out that you should only accept advice and guidance from trusted sources and where you have initiated it.

"Alongside this, the Government is consulting on the creation of new online pension dashboards which would give people unprecedented access to their pension data and the ability to grant access to third parties. It is critical that this does not create another way in for the scammers."