gasax, there are also many, many more people who have paid up front without losing (note the spelling) their money.
Yes, it's a risk. Caveat emptor, as they say. If people want to take that risk in exchange for lower-cost flying, why shouldn't they?
As for your snide and very silly comment about "Stasi" informants, if you saw someone you vaguely knew smashing a window of another house in your street, climbing in and then coming out with a TV, would you inform the police or not?