I’m obviously concerned about LE stings and to a lesser degree scams.  You see these beautiful high end girls on tryst or X requiring high deposits and such.  Please tell me the mistakes to avoid.  It seems pretty scary out there.  

The main thing is to use reviews to find out which girls are legitimate. The ones who are independent, well-reviewed and experienced are safe. LE is not interested in busting independents or their clients. And if you use experienced agencies they are generally safe as well, though they are more likely to be targets of LE (more bang for the buck). Just spend some time searching reviews, get to know some of the experienced mongers here, spend time on the boards to see how they operate and you'll be OK.
Have fun!

...that is the key, no matter how much your little head tells you to. The filters on TER are amazing.  

Never send absurdly high deposits and NEVER send any crypto.  

Make sure she does some form of screening; LE will not want to waste time screening because their plan is to arrest you by getting you to the room ASAP.

And if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. A smoking hot 22 year old blonde, petite cheerleader advertising BBFS for 100/hr is probably an undercover cop or a scam.

And if you are nervous about LE, consider booking outcalls so you control the location. Cops will not send a female undercover (if one is involved) into an area that they do not 100% control. On that subject, NEVER discuss anything sexual in writing (email, text. etc.). You are discussing money for time - nothing more. Also check her website and profile to ensure that she is not advertising overt sexual services for money either. If she asks, "what are you looking for, baby?" or some variant, find someone else.  

That's what I've gleaned from reading tons of posts as a newbie who started back in May.

Thanks so much.  Great advice.  The inexpensive 10 offering everything with no website or social media presence and only a phone number is probably not my friend.  I’m starting to get the picture but some of them are so HOT.  

You need to learn to keep the fantasy part behind the closed doors (BCD) and not as part of your search and selection process. You're looking at ads and until you have something other than the ad pic to base your claims of hotness on, that is pure fantasy. Hell, just going off the ad you don't even know if there is a girl behind it, hot or otherwise. I could be some scam a guy is running.