PENSION SCAM FROM A COMPANY POSING AS "THE PENSION PEOPLE"

The following statement has been issued by HSBC Bank Pension Trust. I thought it useful to reproduce here.

The Trustee is aware of a pension scam from a company posing as ‘The Pension People’.

Please note this is a scam and we would advise our members to not click on any links, respond or open the emails.

If you are an active employee please follow the necessary internal phishing procedures.

If you have any queries please contact the Scheme administrators, Willis Towers Watson, by email HSBCpension@willistowerswatson.com or phone 01737 227575.

Len Aspell

PENSIONER PERKS - DISCOUNTS


Are you a pensioner from Midland Bank/HSBC?


If you're a pensioner you will be able to sign up for discounts through pensioner perks.


To register for HSBC UK Pensioner Perks at Work:

https://www.perksatwork.com/login

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Further information can be obtained by entering the members section of the Horizons website.

https://www.horizons.life/

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PENSION SCHEME ANNOUNCEMENT - LEN ASPELL 2 APRIL 2020

The Pension Scheme Trustee has published a member newsletter to help keep you up to date with the latest Scheme information.

You can read the newsletter located on the other information tab in the information centre on the futurefocus website https://futurefocus.staff.hsbc.co.uk

The newsletter was drafted in the early part of Q1 2020 before the recent and escalating crisis arising from the Covid19 pandemic.

The Trustee wanted to confirm that updates for members about the impact of Covid19 on the Scheme will be posted on the Trustee’s website, futurefocus and the Trustee recommends that you review the content on the site before contacting the Scheme’s administrators, Willis Towers Watson.

The Trustee is working closely with the Scheme administrators, who are experiencing an increase in member queries and you may experience a longer call wait time and some delay to your postal or email query.

The Pension Scheme Executive is working remotely and the Q1 Trustee Board meeting has been held via a Video Conference. The Trustee is therefore pleased to confirm that the Business Continuity Plan for the governance and management of the Scheme has been implemented.

As mentioned in the newsletter there are some sophisticated fraudsters engaged in scams designed to trick pension scheme members. The current volatility and uncertainty arising from the Covid19 pandemic is a potentially productive environment for these scammers. The Trustee urges all members to be scam aware as set out on page nine of the newsletter.

If you have any urgent enquiries, or have difficulty accessing the newsletter please:

Telephone: 01737 227575

Email: HSBCpension@willistowerswatson.com


For most other queries you may be able to find the information you require online via My Pension https://epa.towerswatson.com/accounts/hsb/

The Trustee of the Scheme aims to provide members with helpful, engaging communications.

If you have any feedback you would like to share about how pension communications could be improved, please email the Trustee at pensionschemeexecutive@hsbc.com.


Len Aspell

Pension Administrators - Willis Towers Watson

Address

The HSBC Administration Team
Willis Towers Watson
PO Box 652
Redhill
Surrey
RH1 9AL


Email: HSBCpension@willistowerswatson.com

(Don't forget to include your employee ID number in your correspondence.)


Telephone: 01737 227575

(Monday to Friday between the hours of 9am and 5:30pm, excluding bank holidays.)


Pension Scheme Executive - Email

If the HSBC administration team aren’t able to help, you can email the Pension Scheme Executive at pensionschemeexecutive@hsbc.com

PENSION SCAM FROM A COMPANY POSING AS "THE PENSION PEOPLE"

The following statement has been issued by HSBC Bank Pension Trust. I thought it useful to reproduce here.

The Trustee is aware of a pension scam from a company posing as ‘The Pension People’.

Please note this is a scam and we would advise our members to not click on any links, respond or open the emails.

If you are an active employee please follow the necessary internal phishing procedures.

If you have any queries please contact the Scheme administrators, Willis Towers Watson, by email HSBCpension@willistowerswatson.com or phone 01737 227575.

Len Aspell

BRANCH CLOSURES IN 2021

The branches to close are:

April:

Edinburgh, Princes Street
May: Brighton, Ditchling Road; Hull, Merit House; Wednesbury; Sutton Coldfield, Four Oaks; Hull, Holderness Road; Pontyclun, Talbot Green; London, Fleet Street; London, Fenchurch Street; London, Old Broad Street; London, Charing Cross; Sheffield, Darnall; Oxford, Summertown; Leeds, Chapel Allerton; Cardiff, Rumney; Torquay, Strand; Staines

June:
Plymouth, Forder House; Belper, King Street; Colchester; London, Whitechapel; London, Marylebone; London, Streatham Hill; Falkirk High Street; Fleet, Fleet Road; Reading, Woodley; Oxford, Headington; Swansea, Gorseinon; Wigston, Leicester Road; Tavistock, Bedford Square; Bristol, Nailsea; Leeds, Cross Gates; Yate, North Walk

July:

London, Kingsbury Road; Cleckheaton, Bradford Road; Bexleyheath, Broadway; London, South Woodford; Birmingham, Erdington; Goole, Wesley Square; Congleton, High Street; Formby, Chapel Lane; Gillingham, Kent; Dunstable, West Street; Chorley, Market Street; Pontypridd, Taff Street; Felixstowe, Hamilton Road; Godalming, High Street; Prestatyn, High Street; London, Southgate; Tewkesbury, High Street; Maldon, High Street; Hatfield; Huntingdon, High Street

August:
Stockport, Bramhall; London, Russell Square; Richmond, Market Place; Loughton, High Road; Rustington, The Street; Exmouth, Chapel Street; Bournemouth, Winton; Liverpool, University; Cleveleys, Victoria Square; Clevedon, Triangle; Northallerton, High Street; Walton-on-Thames, High Street; London, High Holborn


September:
Barry, Holton Road; Aldershot, Wellington Street; Eastcote, Field End Road; London, Edgware Road; Ramsgate, High Street; Manchester, Chorlton-cum-Hardy; Letchworth, Station Place; London, Hackney; Barnet, High Street; Deal, High Street; Cheshunt, Turners Hill; Swadlincote, High Street; Dorking, West Street; Welshpool, Broad Street; London, Surrey Quays; Worksop, Bridge Street


BRANCH CLOSURES IN 2020

27 branch closures have been announced.


Dates may vary due to Covid-19


3 JULY 2020

Bristol Bedminster
Leigh-on-Sea
London Park Royal
Chingford
Swindon Old Town
London Kensington High Street


10 JULY 2020

Blaby
Peterlee
Leigh Bradshawgate
Chard
Wallasey
Royston
Pudsey


31 JULY 2020

Croydon Wellesley Road
Saffron Walden
Tiverton
Ely
Pembroke

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DATE TO BE CONFIRMED

London Greenwich
London Regent Street
Redhill
Thetford
Sheffield Broomhill
Bourne
Cheltenham Bath Road
Coventry Corporation Street
Heswall

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FRAUD AIMED AT HSBC SHARE HOLDERS

Hi, everybody, I need to warn you all about a scam aimed at HSBC shareholders.

I was contacted last week by a woman from the TCG Corporate Recommendations Team. She knew I was a HSBC shareholder and told me that as I'd held shares for more than ten years I was entitled to additional benefits, such as a slightly increased dividend, extra voting rights and other corporate perks. Sadly they didn't have any of the corporate perks available but they would call back when they did.

I knew this was a fraud, so played along, knowing they would call back within a few days, which they duly did today.

They make out it is investment advice due to the changing market blah blah and used lots of words suggesting the investment was in Treasury funds. On pressing her, I finally managed to get an admission it wasn't Treasury linked but in a fund called The Fine Art Fund.

At that point I revealed I knew it was a scam and may have used a few Anglo-Saxon swearwords when describing what I thought of her, at which point she became snotty and hung up!

I rang the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) to log and report the scam and they confirmed this firm of fraudsters is well known to them.

How did they get my details? From the public register of shareholders.

It isn't HSBC's fault, in fact, the training I received during my years at the Bank served me very well, as I am sure it will you.

Please pass on this to anyone you know holds shares and not just HSBC either. The woman was VERY convincing, so be warned.


Paul Calvert

FRAUDULENT EMAILS PURPORTING TO BE FROM HSBC


I get fraudulent emails regularly as we all do, but I had one today (purporting to be from HSBC) that was very clever indeed.


The fact it was addressed to Mr not Mrs first raised my suspicions, but I did log on via the app on my phone and realised I hadn’t got an account ending ****, and there were no new important documents to read either.


The whole thing was so very very professional and looked and read just like an official HSBC one, with links to “top tips for staying safe online” even - never stop checking first!

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Karen Wesson

BUPA/HSBC - HEALTHCARE PREMIUMS INCREASE

Is anyone out there a member of the BUPA -Hsbc healthcare scheme for the Pensioners Voluntary scheme.

I today received notification of the premium increase for 2020 which will be increased by 46%, for couple cover membership has increased from £323.66 to £473.80 per month effective January.


What do members think and do they agree with the banks Justification of the premium increase?

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Jas Panesar Jones