The Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday that it is cracking down on con artists who target the unemployed with bogus job placement and work-at-home scams.

The consumer protection agency said it has asked federal courts to shut down seven entities charged with peddling such schemes and to freeze their assets.

The Justice Department has pursued criminal action in 44 additional cases and state attorneys general are pursuing 18 more, FTC officials said.

The agency is also increasing its efforts to educate job-seekers on avoiding the scams. Any advertisement or pitch that promises job listings in return for a fee or promises a business opportunity in return for an up-front investment is likely fraudulent, the agency said.

David Vladeck, director of the FTC's bureau of consumer protection, said such schemes aren't new but are taking advantage of the increasing number of people who are unemployed or working fewer hours due to the recession, the worst downturn since the 1930s.

"These are scam artists targeting the most vulnerable people," he said. "They are tricking job seekers into parting with their last dollars."

There are 14.8 million jobless Americans, the Labor Department said earlier this month, almost double the 7.7 million out of work when the recession began. There another 11 million people who are working part-time but would prefer full-time work or who have become discouraged and given up on their job searches.

Among the seven cases announced Wednesday were charges against a company called Entertainment Work Inc. that listed jobs for television and movie extras. The company "deceptively claimed" that in return for a membership fee to its Web site, job-seekers would find work near their homes in the entertainment industry, the FTC said.