Conman's get-rich scam

A wealthy businessman made a small fortune from "get rich quick" scams which preyed on job hunters.

Nicholas Andreas, 38, ran a company which conned people looking for work into parting with cash on the promise of lucrative work at home.

He placed advertisements in local newspapers and promised earnings of "?600 plus per week" for "packing, mailing or assembling" with no experience required.

But any one who responded to his PO box address were not offered work but told to send ?10 for a directory holding further information.

The directory was nothing more than a list of companies to which his victims could apply for work with no indication of the amount they might be paid.

So successful was his company, ACE Enterprise Ltd, in extracting money that Andreas has a ?400,000 home in Winchmore Hill.

Today consumer groups called for a crackdown on similar cons, which net thousands of victims a year.

Evidence from the Citizens' Advice Bureau shows that victims are often mothers and pensioners on low incomes. The legitimate industry's support body, the National Group on Homeworking, gets more than 3,000 calls a year on the subject.

A CAB spokeswoman said: "We would like the process of seeking upfront deposits for home working opportunities to be made a criminal offence. If a scheme asks for money up-front, alarm bells should ring - legitimate home-working schemes will not do this."

In one case, not linked to Andreas, a pensioner paid ?40 to join a scheme filling envelopes which promised a wage of ?500 a month.

He received address labels but had to use his own money to photocopy a document and buy stamps. He was never paid and was left ?995 out of pocket.

Lynn Brittney, author of the Which? guide to working from home, said: "There are few legitimate jobs. Those that are genuine are normally advertised in reputable places such as job centres. Even working hard, ?200 a week is a lot for this sort of work and talk of ?500 is just not realistic."

Andreas's scheme was halted after a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ASA ruled Andreas had "misled" his victims. But ASA sources privately admit there is little they can do to stop him starting a new company.

In November 2001, Andreas was fined ?500 for advertising a "home workers' starter pack" under the name of Grace Enterprises Ltd. He was closed down by premium phone line regulator ICTIS.

Andreas refused to comment about his business activities.