How the scams actually work
Four schemes account for almost everything that goes wrong, and all four are recognisable before any money moves. Written by an agency that loses bookings to them — we would rather you stayed in the market than got burned out of it.
1. The deposit that goes nowhere
How it runs: friendly conversation, photographs that look real, then a deposit request. You pay, and either nobody arrives or the conversation continues until a second payment is needed.
The tells: payment by gift card, crypto voucher, or a transfer to a name that does not match anything else. An “activation fee”, “verification payment” or “insurance” — words no real agency uses. Urgency: the slot disappears in ten minutes.
What is normal instead: a deposit is a percentage of the agreed figure, it is explained, and it is deducted from the balance. Anything framed as a fee on top is not a deposit.
2. The photographs are not the person
How it runs: you book what you saw, someone else arrives. Usually the expectation is that you will not make a scene in a hotel corridor at eleven at night — and most people do not.
The tells: the same photographs appear on several sites. Retouching heavy enough that features are ambiguous. Inconsistent blurring — some shots hidden, others not, different bodies underneath. Refusal to send anything additional privately.
Two minutes of prevention: reverse image search, which is free and instant. Then ask for one specific extra photograph — a different angle, something ordinary. A real agency sends it. A scam stalls, sends more of the same, or gets defensive.
3. The price changes in the room
How it runs: the agreed figure becomes a different figure once you are alone, usually framed as a misunderstanding about duration or what was included.
The tells: vagueness about what the rate covers. Nothing in writing. Reluctance to answer “so the total is X, correct?” with the word yes.
Prevention: get the number in writing before anything is confirmed, and be specific — duration, start time, total. One message. Any agency that will not put a figure in text is planning for it to change.
4. Fake verification and ID theft
How it runs: you are asked for a passport scan, a selfie holding your ID, or payment card details to “verify” you. Sometimes there is a slick website for it.
The tells: any request for identity documents or card numbers. Screening never requires either.
What real screening looks like: a work reference, a prior reference, or a hotel booking in your name — explained here in full. Nothing that could be used to open an account in your name.
The one question that filters almost everything
Ask something specific that requires a real answer:
“I am looking at Thursday evening, four hours, dinner somewhere central — who is actually free and what is the total?”
A real agency answers with names, a figure and a question back. A listing site sends a price list. A scam sends photographs and asks for a deposit.
You will know inside one exchange.
If it has already gone wrong
Tell the agency, if there was one. Tell other people — the forums in this industry exist precisely for this, and the operations that run these schemes depend on silence.
And do not let it push you to the cheapest end of the market next time. That is where all four of these schemes live, and the discount was never real.
We are not a neutral party here: everything above describes our competition, and we benefit if you avoid them. But every point is verifiable in two minutes, and the guide to choosing an agency applies the same tests to us.