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Tom Selby, senior analyst at AJ Bell, said: "In terms of the actual numbers of people being scammed, you might expect more men to fall victim in part because men are more likely to have bigger pensions on average, and so are more likely to be targeted by fraudsters.

"But it does suggest greater policy focus should be placed on understanding why men might be more vulnerable to scam tactics than women.

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"This in turn should help regulators and the wider industry tailor communications on the risks of scams effectively to different groups of savers."

Romi Savova, chief executive of PensionBee, suggested more targeted campaigns could be run by the industry if evidence points towards particular groups being more affected by scams than others.

She said: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that women are more risk averse than men, which could make them less likely to fall victim to some of the most popular pension scam tactics, such as pressure to make an immediate decision or a promise of guaranteed high returns.

"With the latest data showing that men are indeed more susceptible to pension scams than women, a greater policy focus should be placed on understanding why so we can do more to protect male savers, whether that’s through tailored communication or targeted awareness campaigns."

However, others believe the idea that men are likely to take more risks when it comes to money is outdated and could lead to poorer outcomes all round.

Daniel Jacobson, senior consultant in pensions administration department and head of pension scams research at LCP, said: "When it comes to scams, perpetrators prey on people’s lack of knowledge rather than look to specifically target a particular gender.

"Certainly the cases that I’ve dealt with in my career have been fairly evenly split.

"Scammers target anyone they deem to be fair game, regardless of gender, ethnicity, class or income."

"A pension scam is not a quick con that’s carried out in a few hours or days – it’s a long game as any transfer has to meet some necessary regulatory requirements," he added.

"Scammers rely on flattery to get a foot in the door, they look to build a relationship with their victim and in the early stages of this will not even be talking about transferring a pension, so that by the time that they do mention it some way down the line, the trust has been built. 

"That method applies equally to both men and women."

rachel.mortimer@ft.com, amy.austin@ft.com