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- Insurance and agents: Russians are being tricked into transferring pensions from one NPF to another
Insurance and agents: Russians are being tricked into transferring pensions from one NPF to another
Russians are increasingly being tricked into transferring pension savings — agents of non-governmental foundations (NPFs) go to people's apartments and work, scare them into closing funds and persuade them to urgently transfer funds to their organization, Izvestia found out. Under pressure, citizens conclude such contracts, not knowing that during the transition they may lose up to 20-40% of investment income in five years. Intermediaries make money on each such transfer, and clients lose. Such a scheme has already led to losses: according to the Accounts Chamber, in 2015-2017, Russians lost more than 82 billion rubles. Who receives the most complaints and how not to fall for such tricks — in the material of Izvestia.
How pension funds deceive Russians
Currently, some non—governmental pension funds (NPFs) attract clients through agents, people who sell financial products for a fee. However, Russians are increasingly complaining that they are being misled. According to market sources, people are being offered to transfer their retirement savings to another fund, while agents use false information.
We are talking about funds that have been frozen since 2014. From 2002 until the moratorium, out of 22% of the employer's insurance contributions, 6% were sent to a citizen's personal account — this is pension savings. The money is stored in a Social Fund or NPF and will be available earlier than the general retirement age — from 55 for women and 60 for men.
Large funds have provided transcripts of conversations with affected clients. Izvestia reviewed them.
So, the woman said that agents came to her and urged her to urgently change the foundation, stating that her current organization would allegedly be absorbed by another one. She signed the statement, but later withdrew it when she found out about the deception.
Another client was informed by phone that his fund was "the worst" and would soon stop working, after which they began to insist on transferring funds.
In one case, the person refused the agent's offer altogether, but the application was still submitted somehow - later it had to be canceled.
Representatives of the NPF made a transfer to another client at home, stating that his fund would allegedly soon go bankrupt.
Agents also came to the kindergarten teacher and persistently offered to transfer to another NPF, claiming that the rest would soon disappear altogether.
According to sources, complaints are most often received against agents of Gazfond and Sberbank. Inquiries have been sent to these and other large funds.
A mandatory pension insurance contract with Sberbank can be issued at the fund's office or at the Sber branch through an NPF employee, the fund's editorial staff said. They added that clients can also order a consultation on the website. In addition, the fund assures that its employees are regularly trained to explain in detail the transfer procedure, the deadline for submitting an application and the risks of early transfer.
Why do I need an agent when changing NPFs?
Agents convince people to make the transition themselves. To transfer funds, you need to sign an agreement with a new fund and submit an application to the Social Fund, including through Gosuslugi.
NPFs are prohibited from involving intermediaries to conclude compulsory pension insurance contracts, and the Bank of Russia is responsible for monitoring this, the press service of the Ministry of Finance told Izvestia. They stressed that the transition between funds takes time: in addition to the application, it is necessary to conclude a contract, and citizens are warned in advance about a possible loss of income if the transfer occurs before the date of savings fixation.
However, according to Izvestia's sources, agents have the right to convince people to transfer funds on their own.
Their activity has noticeably increased — they put pressure on urgency and are often misleading, confirmed Yaroslav Kabakov, Director of Strategy at Finam IC. According to him, the agency channel itself is legitimate, but statements about the closure of the fund and paperwork without explanation are already a violation and potential fraud.
In general, the work of agents, including advertising and informing, does not contradict the law, Natalia Milchakova, analyst at Freedom Finance Global, agreed. However, deception, pressure, and incomplete disclosure of the terms of the contract are illegal. Misselling is also prohibited — the sale of one service under the guise of another, which the Bank of Russia is fighting. The editorial board sent requests to the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance and the Association of NPFs.
Earlier, Mikhail Mamuta, head of the consumer protection service and a member of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank, said in an interview with Izvestia that in 2025 there were about six times more complaints about long-term savings through NPFs. According to him, the growth is associated with an increase in sales, but some of the funds use unfair methods — they overestimate the promised amount of state support and do not disclose the terms of termination.
In 2024, the authorities launched the Long-term Savings Program (LDS). Participants use it to make contributions, receive co-financing from the state and tax deductions, and can also transfer retirement savings to it.
How much money can you lose when transferring retirement savings
Due to the actions of agents, people risk losing money. Clients are often not warned: if they switch from one NPF to another ahead of schedule, they may lose their investment income. By law, it is allowed to transfer savings without losses only once every five years. Otherwise, losses can reach 20-40%. The client can also pay personal income tax of 13%, explained Natalia Milchakova from Freedom Finance Global. Funds record income every five years, and it is safer to change NPFs immediately after such a fixation.
This problem has already occurred before. In 2015-2017, illegal transfers became widespread: according to the Accounts Chamber, Russians lost more than 82 billion rubles of income at that time. Both the citizens and the reputation of the foundations themselves suffered.
The growth in agent activity can be explained by the fact that funds need new clients in the wake of the popularity of PDS, said Ekaterina Kosareva, Managing Partner of VMT Consult. It is important to distinguish between the two groups. The first is legal intermediaries who are attracted to expand the base. The second is scammers acting under the guise of NPFs for the sake of quick earnings.
The use of intermediaries specifically for concluding contracts is prohibited: only the client himself can make the transfer, the expert reminded. Agents are interested in the transition, as they receive a reward for it, and may keep silent about the risks. The scammers go further — they ask for money for a "lossless transfer", offer to install suspicious applications, or promise a return of 30% or more.
How to protect your savings
A source in the pension market gave some tips on how not to become a victim of unscrupulous agents.:
• if a representative of the foundation has come home, ask for documents confirming his status, or call the NPF itself.;
• check the information in your personal account and on the foundation's website, do not hesitate to ask questions.;
• remember: if you transfer your savings ahead of time, you can lose 20-40% of your income in five years — no "favorable" rate will cover this.;
• do not trust the promises of high profitability — focus on the real indicators of NPFs published by the Central Bank.
If you have already been misled, you can complain to the Central Bank and Rospotrebnadzor, and in case of obvious deception, to the police, said Yaroslav Kabakov from Finam IC. You can cancel the transition until it is completed. If completed, the money is saved, but the income is most often already lost.
The signed contract can be challenged — within a year it is allowed to cancel it through an application to the Social Fund, Ekaterina Kosareva from VMT Consult explained. If less than three years have passed, it is worth contacting the financial commissioner — according to his decision, the funds can be returned to the previous income fund, the expert noted.
In case of deception or pressure, the client has the right to go to court or prosecutor's office, Natalia Milchakova added. Agents face administrative and, in some cases, criminal liability for such actions. However, legal disputes can drag on and require costs, therefore, according to the expert, it is safer to initially be critical of any proposals to urgently change NPFs.
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