Superannuation Fund Scams
Monday January 19, 2009
Don't get caught by superannuation fund scams that offer you early release of your superannuation fund savings. Unless you are granted access to your superannuation fund savings due to extreme financial hardship or due to needing your funds on compassionate grounds, you must otherwise wait until your preservation age in order to access your retirement savings.
Superannuation fund scams will often offer you early access to your funds, sometimes through the use of a self managed superannuation fund, but sometimes merely by claiming to charge you a fee to do so. Unfortunately, it is illegal to access your superannuation fund savings early, so you could find yourself in serious trouble if you are caught doing it.
Money is made from these scams by tricking your superannuation fund into releasing the money to the scam artist. Once the money is in their possession, they will often disappear. Long term scammers may instead charge an extremely high fee before releasing the money to you, still leaving you with a smaller superannuation fund and the possibility of getting into trouble legally. Incorporating a target in some form of illegal activity is in fact a common way for scammers to get away with what they do, as the victim fears going to police due to possible trouble over their own actions.
If you find an offer for early access to your superannuation fund, use commonsense and the knowledge that there are very few ways of accessing your superannuation fund early legitimately. Also, if you think you have found a genuine offer, consult ASIC about it as well as a financial adviser independent of the offer who is licensed by ASIC. Avoiding superannuation fund scams is often just a case of exercising good judgment and taking appropriate steps to ensure you are doing something legal.
Please browse our site to read about different types of superannuation funds, the use of self managed superannuation funds as well as many other subjects to do with using and choosing a superannuation fund.
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