If only my father were alive to see the big wigs that were taken by the biggest Ponzi scam ever. Steven Spielberg and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel even got duped.

Boy, would my dad feel vindicated. He was the victim of such a scam several years before his death. As a serial entrepreneur, my father understood how businesses worked, but he was still duped by a smooth talking guy who took him for a big portion of his life savings.

If you haven’t been following the news, a guy named Bernard Madoff took tons of banks, rich people, and charities for a lot of money in an elaborate pyramid scheme.

From the Associated Press:

The 70-year-old Madoff (MAY-doff), well respected in the investment community after serving as chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market, was arrested Thursday in what prosecutors say was a $50 billion scheme to defraud investors. Some investors claim they’ve been wiped out, while others are still likely to come forward.

“There were a lot of very sophisticated people who were duped, and that happens a great deal when you’ve had somebody decide to be unscrupulous,” said Harvey Pitt, a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a regulatory agency in charge of monitoring investment funds like the one Madoff operated.

Stories about what Madoff did make my stomach sick inside. It takes me back to that painful time when I saw my father crushed by a jerk.

My father was caught up in a much smaller version of this type of scam. He was upset about the money, yes. But I think he was most upset at being taken. He was ashamed and kept wondering how he fell for such a scam.

I’m pointing this out because I believe most anyone can fall prey to such schemes, and right now more than ever you all have to be diligent about reviewing and investigating any opportunities that come your way, especially work-at-home scams.

My email box is full of inquires from readers who wonder if the too-good-to-be true job offers are indeed too good to be true.

And now more than ever the scammers are out for blood, and they’re finding victims because so many of you are desperate.

“Scam artists follow market trends better than most corporations do, and, when they see a strong movement toward a certain product, service, or desire, they move quickly to bilk unsuspecting consumers out of their hard-earned cash,” says Christine Durst, CEO of Staffcentrix, a training company that specializes in home-based jobs and telework.

“Our researchers screen between 4,500 and 5,000 work at home job leads every week,” explains Durst, “and currently, there is a 54-to-1 scam ratio. This means, that for every 55 leads they investigate; only one passes our legitimacy standards.”

Yes folks, one in 55, and that seems high to me.

Complaints to the Better Business Bureau regarding work-at-home opportunities rose to 4,100 in 2007 from about 3,800 the previous year. That means more of you are falling prey to these bozos.

I wrote a story for MSNBC.com a while back warning against these too-good-to-be-true offers and in that Durst offered some warning signs:

1. “Work at Home” appears in the ad header: “Work from home” is not a job title. If it appears in the ad header there’s a good chance it’s a come on - scammers can rarely resist including it in the header – it’s the bait of their “hook” as they fish for desperate people to reel in.
2. Claims that no experience is necessary and no resume is requested: In the “real world” all jobs require you do something so it stands to reason that a legitimate ad will tell you what it is you need to be able to do. In the world of scams, a person’s gullibility is far more important than their experience or skills.
3. Unbelievable pay! - make $5,000 a week working part time! Exaggerated claims of income are a sure sign of a scam.
4. The ad arrives as spam in your email. As if by a miracle, an ad for home-based work just landed in your email inbox. How could this man from Romania have known you were looking for home-based work? Miracles do happen, but not via SPAM. If you receive unsolicited job offers in your email it’s probably the result of a scammer having “harvested” your email address from another location frequented by people who are seeking work. Move it to your trash file without using the “remove me from this list” link you’re likely to find at the bottom of the page. These links are often used to confirm that your email address is active and using them can result in even more SPAM.
5. No Job Description: What exactly is the ad for? Most scams will give little or no description of the type of work you are supposed to be performing – not even an allusion to such. Real job listings will always tell you what they expect you to do for them.
6. Palm Trees, Mansions, Beaches & Bikinis: If the ad you’re looking at features palm trees, a mansion, and a Ferrari, it’s probably a scam. Successful scammers often bag their prey by dangling enticing things in front of them – much like kidnappers do. “If you get into my car I’ll give you this candy bar.”
7. “Limited number of openings” in the subject line: “We are seeking 11 people to work from home!” Scammers use this tactic to build a sense of urgency in their prospective victims — “If I don’t act now, the opportunity may disappear.”

OK, for the soul of my incredibly intelligent, loving father, be careful out there. Don’t end up just another angry victim.