Short traders are not criminals, they are only taking advantage...

Short traders are not criminals, they are only taking advantage of an opportunity. Retail investors are rarely hurt if they invest wisely and can protect themselves in a number of ways:

1. Study your investment targets. Instead of gaming or sitting dead-eyed in front of a Netdrivel streaming service, have a look at the latest company report and financial statements? If you don't understand something, look it up. Commerce isn't rocket science. Most companies either make or buy something and sell it to customers. Make sure you understand the company's customers, logistics, competition, and how they add value for profit (e.g. manufacturing).
2. Don't invest in vulnerable stocks.
3. Don't invest in a business you don't understand well enough to be able to identify changes that will affect the value of the company.
4. When you invest in a business, you should become an obsessive seeker of news that affects the company.
5. Have an investment horizon far enough out that you can hold through a short term dip in price. If you will need the money next Christmas, don't drop it onto AML3d.
6. Don't invest more in any single investment than you are prepared to lose.
7. When a share price jumps suddenly (up or down), investigate what is happening to the company rather than reacting to the share price. If the fundamentals of the company are unchanged, a dip represents a buying opportunity and a hump represents a selling opportunity. You can rebalance your portfolio once the share price returns to a sensible level.

It's a lot of work, but you should be prepared to invest at least as much effort into each dollar earned from investments as you do in your main income stream, and probably more.