A large number of cases I have handled recently have involved blatant rip offs. I am not talking about the disputes that often happen in business, where there are two sides to the story, but situations where someone clearly went into a situation with the intention of ripping the other person off. Whether it is a truck driver stealing from their company, a restaurant manager cheated out of his agreed upon pay, a crooked landlord, or real estate swindler refusing to pay a property owner as he promised, scams are out there, I have seen most of them.

How do you avoid being the next victim? The single most important advice I can give anyone, research the person you are looking to business with. Starting with the Minnesota State Courts website, there are more pubic resources than ever for checking up on people. Bottom line, if someone has a history or ripping people off, and most con artists do, they will probably rip you off to. Of course, you should also have clearly written, legally enforceable contracts that spell out all of the responsibilities of both sides, and do your other legal homework, with the help of a lawyer if need be. That is important, and will avoid trouble when dealing with honest, or mostly honest people, but will not fully protect you from a determined scam artist.

Check them out before you commit your money or career, you will be glad you did.