§ 178. Action on bond. All claims or suits brought in any court against any licensed person may be brought in the name of the person damaged upon the bond deposited by such licensed person as provided in section one hundred seventy-seven and may be transferred and assigned as other claims for damages in civil suits. The amount of damages claimed by plaintiff, and not the penalty named in the bond, shall determine the jurisdiction of the court in which the action is brought. The commissioner may institute a suit against the bond on behalf of any person damaged. Where such licensed person has departed from the state with intent to defraud his creditors or to avoid the service of a summons in an action brought under this section, service shall be made upon the surety in the manner provided for service of a summons. A copy of such summons shall be mailed to the last known post office address of the residence of the licensed person and the place where he conducted such employment agency, as shown by the records of the commissioner.