Scammers Prey on Would-Be Self-Employed
Jun 30th, 2008 | By Dawn Rivers Baker | Category: OperationsThose of us who arrived online in the mid to late 1990s with the first major wave of Internet-based microbusinesses sometimes forget that there will always be newbies. And, for as long as there are newbies, there will be scammers. Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had secured a contempt order and collected a $100,000 performance bond against once such scammer, Richard Nieswonger, along with his company and his business partner, William Reed. Nieswonger’s three run-ins with the FTC, in addition to previous convictions for wire fraud and money laundering, suggest that we may hear about this incorrigible fellow again. More to the point, given the trends, the Richard Neiswongers of the world demonstrate that there may be forms of support for self-created jobs in America that have not yet been developed or even considered, but that are sorely needed.
