People losing their homes are already at the end of their rope. Then come the foreclosure scammers.

These lowlifes generally find struggling homeowners through foreclosure notices online. They call or visit and say they can save the home, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling explains. They charge fees and ask consumers to send payments directly to them -- claiming they will pass on the money to the mortgage servicer after negotiating a lower payment.

But this never ends well. The fraudsters pocket the money and leave victims with even less money than they started with -- and still in foreclosure.