High unemployment rates in Britain and the USA give rise to an increasing incidence of scams targeting victims of recession. The British Office of Fair Trading released survey results that show that one in four adults has at some point in their life been contacted by work from home scammers. And the number is rising. In the last year 17 per cent of the adult population has already been targeted.
Typically the scam operates by advertising paid work from home in a local newspaper, show window or on a lamppost offering the promise of fast cash for minimal effort. The catch is that people have to pay an upfront fee to the organiser, for example, for materials or for them to reveal their ‘secrets’. Normally, however, no service is delivered.
Similarly, in the USA unemployed are increasingly targeted by scamers. David C. Vladeck, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection warned “Federal and state law enforcement officials will not tolerate those who take advantage of consumers in times of economic misfortune”.
For further information see: http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2010/13-10 und http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/02/bottomdollar.shtm
Source: Office of Fair Trading and Federal Trade Commission