The world can seem pretty cruel when you're unemployed. As if things weren't bad enough, certain con artists target the unemployed. When you are unemployed, you are vulnerable. This post has been made to help you protect yourself. Below are a few of the scams of which I am aware -- I have even fallen for a couple of them. There are undoubtedly many more which you are more than welcome to add in the comments.

A Few Species of Parasites Preying on the Unemployed

• The "career advisor" can be a particularly vile creature. Like most con artists, he or she will promise you the moon and come across as your advocate (to gain your confidence), but make no mistake about it: This person is not your ally. Sometimes they find your resume on Monster and make themselves seem like recruiters.

  There are legitimate career advisors. These are the ones for which your former employer, if they are decent, may foot the bill. They will help you with your resume and offer seminars on networking and the like. The key is that the legitimate ones won't cost you a dime. The illegitimate ones will want to charge you $5,000 (or whatever they think they can get out of you) to, basically, re-write your resume.

• The work-at-home spammers try to sucker you in various ways. They get your information from Monster or they simply spam you from a list. Or maybe they set up a website that looks very professional. Working from home is possible, but there's nothing these people can do for you that you can't do for yourself. Anybody who wants to charge you for their "program" or who wants you to "invest" in their scheme is a scammer does not offer a real opportunity. If you want to work from home, set up a business, offer a service, and hustle in the real world until you find a client or two.
• The "placement service" is sometimes semi-legitimate. They may actually place people in jobs from time to time, but their real goal is to build a list. These people advertise "jobs" that may or may not exist. When you respond with your resume, they put all your information in a database. When someone (like the work-at-home spammers or "career advisors" needs a "sucker list," your placement service is right there at the ready with all your information and that of thousands of other potential suckers.
• The corporate spy is especially nasty and vile because they often have the backing of large corporations. Their goal is simply to pump you for information. The typical M.O. is to have a "recruiter" send you on an "interview" for a job that doesn't exist. You go to a nice looking corporate office, engage in an "interview" and never get called back. Does this sound paranoid? Well, It happens. I wish it didn't, but it does. This scam costs you time and money (getting to the interview, getting your suit cleaned, etc.) but it also just plain sucks in every possible way.

Those are just a few of the dirtbags that make their living off your misery by filling you with false hope. I'm sure there are others. If you know of any, please register, log in and tell us about them.

Never give anybody what little money you have unless they're giving you something tangible in return. There are plenty of free resources for job seekers, one of which will be this site (someday). More on those in a future article.