Crooks Are Going After the Jobless

Now this is low: The Los Angeles Times is reporting on a cadre of fraud artists targeting the unemployed. Scams offer work-from-home jobs and ask clients to pay a fee for starter kits, certification or processing. The Better Business Bureau reports a swell of such scams—nearly 3,000 complaints from January to August of this year, which is half the number that were reported last year. In July, Stevan P. Todorovic was found guilty of stealing $6.1 million from 80,000 people by guaranteeing bartender and secret shopper jobs after a certification fee. His sentencing in March could put him in jail for up to 200 years. Stuart Pfeifer of the Los Angeles Times cites that prosecution for these scammers is rare, and that fake companies like Todorovic’s feed off of the desperate 15 million unemployed in the U.S, many of whom can’t speak English and therefore are too “weak” to fight back for their stolen money.