The result is that scamsters are pulling out some of their classics, taking advantage of a huge new generation of gullible entrepreneurs. While the packaging may change over time, she says, the product remains pretty much the same. To be sure, crooks try to give even the most venerable schemes a contemporary look. The Internet has come in handy for that. Other times, the Internet itself is being hawked as an investment opportunity.
Nobody has a precise handle on the scope of frauds against small businesses.
But one indication is the growing number of complaints to Better Business Bureaus about the types of promotions that typically target small businesses, such as promises of capital upon payment of a fee. Such complaints more than doubled to 11,700 from 1990 to 1996, the latest year for which statistics are available. What's more, the number of complaints grew more than twice as fast as general business inquiries to the bureaus, according to data from the Council of Better Business Bureaus Inc., a nonprofit umbrella group for the 135 regional offices. Once stung, small-business owners are likely to find that they do not have much recourse. Mr. Elkins says his state's consumer-protection laws don't cover businesses, though he adds there is an effort under way in the state Legislature to change that.