> The fact is all these "jobfished" people signed up willingly for a job that was purely commission-based, and had the agency actually been able to attract a pa

> The fact is all these "jobfished" people signed up willingly for a job that was purely commission-based, and had the agency actually been able to attract a paying client in the first six months, who is to say Ali wouldn't have made good on his promises to hire people on salary, etc.? Who's to say Sorokin or the Tinder Swindler wouldn't have paid their victims back if only they'd ended up with enough money to do it? In this case someone recruited people he didn't have a chance of paying (or getting visas for even if the money came in) to work long hours for nothing for a business based entirely on lies (not just fake projects on the website, but a fake cofounder messaging staff!), and has absolutely no regrets over it. As others have pointed out, it's pretty difficult to have that many people working on trying to generate creative agency business for you and not end up with even the tiniest amount of invoiceable work unless you're actively disinterested in getting business closed. That's a little different in scope from your average "we'll pay you after our fundraise" startup 'job' offering, even if the outcome is usually the same. Devil's advocacy can be taken too far.