This is NOT to be confused with a deposit paid to a reputable lady for an extended date or travel expenses.
I just had a phone call in which the caller was interested in a dinner date, yet questioned my policy of collecting a deposit for dates of three hours or more. He further questioned my reliability and ethics, intimating that I might be a rip-off artist.
I calmly informed him that a deposit assured me that my client was serious about keeping the date and was not jerking me around with promises that would not be kept. (Like so many other ladies, I learned this lesson the hard way, as you can imagine.)
I then reminded him that he could check my credentials as a provider-- 10 full years of glowing reviews, and a reputation for being a consummate professional in my business dealings.
When I asked him where I could find HIS hobbying credentials (since he expected me to take him on faith), he muttered a TER user name and hurriedly hung up.
Guess what. No reviews, no white lists, no board posts, no nothing.
Ethics live on a two-way street, as you lovely ladies and gentlemen already know. I fully expect this fellow hoped I would be so blindly eager for a an extended date, that I would forget all my hard-won policies and just hope that he showed up.
The scammer who played the poster here clearly had similar aims, except that she (sadly) succeeded in separating him from his money.
The two situations are diametrically opposed. And it's wise for all of us to remember which is which