This is where the narrative of victim and victimizer breaks down. Consider one of the sad tales from the article:
> “They used us to get rich,” said Demetrios Manolitsis, 52, a Chicago cabdriver from Greece. Mr. Manolitsis, who started driving in 1992 and owned an extra medallion as an investment, said New Yorkers in Chicago convinced him to borrow money to buy 15 more medallions at the height of the bubble, when prices were skyrocketing and the asset seemed invincible. He is now buried in debt and on the brink of losing everything.
He's both an opportunistic speculator buying 15 (!) medallions and a victim who was conned. Depending on when the market took an eventual downturn he could have been a villain. He could have been part of the ominous "they" sprinkled throughout the piece!