Super scams: what you need to know (and how to stay one step ahead)

And in today's newspapers "How to help your kids buy a home (without just writing them a cheque)"

In this edition

Feature: Super scams: what you need to know (and how to stay one step ahead)

From Bec’s Desk: Whizzing by

SMH/TheAge: How to help your kids buy a home (without just writing them a cheque)

Prime Time: What does modern AGEISM look like?

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Super scams: what you need to know (and how to stay one step ahead)

Your super is the biggest honeypot you’ll ever have (sadly!)—and wherever there’s a honeypot, and older people, there are scammers circling. Retirees are especially on the front line. Why? Because once you retire, your super finally gets unlocked into a cash drawdown account. Suddenly, it’s liquid, and that makes it very, very attractive to slick-handed shysters.

This week in our Facebook group, Helen — who is retired — shared how she was targeted by a super scam (that didn’t get her), and how hard it was to even be taken seriously by her fund when she reported it. And, alongside that experience; a week or two before in the wake of the First Guardian and Shield collapse, I deliberately went down a Facebook ad rabbit hole and uncovered a so-called “financial advice” funnel that made my skin crawl. Both are stark reminders of just how much vigilance we need right now.

For many Australians, super is the single largest asset they’ll ever have. Whether you’re already retired or simply looking for advice, here are two scams (or funnels) doing the rounds, and how to protect yourself.

1. SMS scams — even inside legit message threads

This week, one of our readers was shaken by a string of texts that looked like they came from her super fund. First came a verification code—except she hadn’t logged in. Seconds later, another message arrived saying her details had been changed and to “not reply if it wasn’t her.” Then, a third text popped up from a different number, complete with another code and a link to follow.

When she called the fund in a panic, the first operator brushed her off: “It’s normal to get a code when you log in.” But she hadn’t logged in. After nearly two hours on hold and pushing through different queues, someone finally agreed to investigate.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Scammers can hijack an existing SMS thread so it looks like it’s coming from your super fund - it’s called ‘spoofing’.

• They rely on urgency—trying to make you panic and click the next dodgy link.

• If a message doesn’t match what you’ve just done, trust your instincts. Don’t click. Instead, call your fund directly using the number on their official website.

• Keep records of every message and every call. And if the first person brushes you off, don’t stop — keep pushing until someone takes you seriously.

• Before retirement your super doesn’t have a withdrawal account attached, so the risk of money being stolen is lower (or different - it’s covered in the next one). Once you retire, and that account with withdrawal capability is opened — and that’s when it’s open season, and you need to be careful, use multi-factor authentication (where you verify your identity on a second device) and keep your wits about you like you would with your banking. (Fact is banks often have better tech than super funds in the retirement phase!)

2. Clickbait super switching ads on social media

Have you seen the ads suggesting you switch your super? It usually starts with a big, bold Facebook ad trying to scare you about “low returns”. From there, you’re baited into a quiz, a comparison tool, or a “free check” form. What’s really happening is you’re being funnelled into a lead generator — sometimes a lowbrow middleman selling your details to the highest bidder among advice firms that can’t attract business organically. Or sometimes a scaling advice business reeling you in.

Even after the collapse of First Guardian and Shield just weeks earlier from these practices, I’m still seeing ‘super scare’ ads and super investment spruikers targeting me relentlessly. I deliberately went down one of these funnels in the past few weeks, and I must say — I’m deeply surprised the Financial Services Association and regulators aren’t pushing harder to shut this stuff down. It tarnishes the whole industry.

Here’s how it plays out: You click on an ad that says ‘Time is running out: Every day you delay could cost you 7 figures in your super’. You fill out a form online (trying to get to a report, or access an amazing deal). Then you get a call from an unqualified lead screener, whose only job is to decide where you’ll fetch the highest price. Then you’re handed off to a so-called adviser or a first year (ask their name - look them up on the ASIC financial advice register you might find they’re not qualified), and from there… who knows which firm you’ll end up in the hands of. If you don’t already know and trust the advice firm yourself, it’s very brave (or crazy!) to go there.

Because let’s be honest: should you really be reviewing your super — or finding a financial adviser — through a Facebook scare campaign or a get rich quick scheme? If their pitch is a click-through ad promising “7 figures in super” just by switching or following their amazing scheme, that’s got my radar up. It’s clickbait, and it will no doubt lead you somewhere with lower values than mine.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Be sceptical of any Facebook or Google ad playing on fear or FOMO — particularly when it comes to your super. Remember: good advice doesn’t need to be pushed at you via clickbait. You should choose where you get it - when you’re ready.

• If we stop clicking on these ads, they’ll stop running. Simple as that — and those businesses will close or look elsewhere for customers.

• To the good advisers out there who read this (and there are plenty of good ones): perhaps it’s time to use the FAAA to chase down these practices and stop them. And to set up a professional code that stops it.

• The best way to find a reputable adviser is not online. Ask people you trust deeply in your own community who have known and used them successfully for years. Or if you like your superfund already, ask them who they’ve road-tested for their members.

I feel compelled to extend on this one!
Premium-priced financial advice isn’t a “scale” game in my opinion - or it wouldn’t be a ‘professional service’ anymore. Real comprehensive advice is personal — it’s about knowing the person guiding you and being guided. The best way to find that is still word of mouth: someone trusted in your community who’s done good work for people you know.

Online lead funnels don’t give you that assurance.

The bottom line is that your super is too important to leave to chance or to a click. If something feels off, it probably is. Slow down, double-check, learn more, and guard your future fiercely. Take steps very, very carefully. Even with regulators watching, a few shameless shysters are still out there. I don’t want you in their honey traps.

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Gosh Sundays roll around quickly at the moment. Another busy week just zipped by. The highlights were so many! I hope yours was as fun as mine.

First, our survey - The Epic Retirement Housing Survey - is still going strong. This survey is designed to gather a better understanding of what you think your housing needs and interests are as you get older. It's to help guide the industry to support people in a modern retirement. Take the survey here. And if you finish you can enter the draw to win one of 5 *$100 VISA vouchers.

I recorded a super-interesting podcast with Australia's Age Discrimination Commissioner, Robert Fitzgerald AM on modern ageism and how it’s affecting many over-50s right now - and what we can do about it. Have a listen below.

I flew to Sydney and spoke at an event for Financial Advisers who wanted to learn about modern retirement journeys - that was fun.

And we’re running our Spring course too! We had a ripper of a session this week in the Epic Retirement Flagship Course with David Lane, diving into financial advice, superannuation and SMSFs. The Spring edition is already up to week four — gawd I love running this thing! Next week’s live event is with Jen Harding from HESTA, who’ll be answering the big questions on super and financial advice — the stuff people really need to know to make the most of their super. And honestly, it’s buzzy in there!

And in every spare minute, we’ve been scripting and recording our new updated version of the course. The How to Have an Epic Retirement Summer Edition — has just gone live for booking. We’ll be officially launching the earlybird deal this week, but it’s already up if you want to get in quick. So if you know you want to come, move early.

A little heads-up (shhh, it’s a secret): we’re also releasing a fully revised and updated edition of the book with this program (we’re getting it early for our students). You can check out the details in the brochure here and book your place. There’s only 200 earlybird spots at 25% off then the price goes back to normal.

And that’s it. Again - longer than I planned. But you guys matter. Have a great Sunday.

Many thanks! Bec Wilson

Author, podcast host, columnist, retirement educator, and guest speaker

Extract of of my weekly column in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times, WA Today on Sunday 21st September 2025.

How to help your kids buy a home (without just writing them a cheque)

There’s a moment in every parent’s life when you start to wonder: when will my kids take that next step into full independence? And what can I do to help them get there?

Independence doesn’t just click on overnight. It’s a gradual process of teaching and guiding, and if it isn’t approached deliberately, kids can spend years bouncing between reliance and autonomy.

For those of us in our 50s, this isn’t just sentimental. It has real financial consequences. The timing of when our children launch into adulthood dictates our own financial independence.

The sooner they move on, the sooner we can redirect resources into super, the tail end of the mortgage, and investments that give us flexibility in later life. Every year matters, because compounding doesn’t wait.

Read on — this article continues in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times and WA Today. It is free to read - you may have to sign up, but there’s no paywall on my articles.

What does modern AGEISM look like?

If you’re in your 50s or 60s and still want (or need) to work, you might also be craving more flexibility — and a role that offers real satisfaction. But instead, you may be hitting invisible walls: silent biases, unspoken assumptions, or rigid systems that haven't kept pace with longer lives.

In this week’s Prime Time, I sit down with Robert Fitzgerald AM, Australia’s Age Discrimination Commissioner, to unpack how modern ageism shows up in the workplace — and what we can actually do about it.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE OF THE PODCAST HERE:

• LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

• LISTEN ON SPOTIFY

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