Is P411 safe and reliable in your opinion? What other alternatives could you advise? Should anyone consider seeing an escort who does not employ verification practices? I am considering finding an escort but the laws are ridiculous in my state; theoretically sex on a first date is prostitution here if the man pays for the date.
I’ve published a column and several updates detailing why P411 isn’t safe for escorts, most recently this one. However, I’ve never heard of a client being tricked that way, and if you think about it you’ll realize the platform works a lot better to scam escorts about client’s safety than vice versa. As far as I know, Date-Check has never had a security breach, so they would be the best alternative. I’m not sure what you mean by the next line; do you mean an escort who isn’t a member of either P411 or Date-Check? Because as long as she has a website and an online presence and reputation on boards and such, I honestly can’t fathom what difference her screening methods could possibly make to you, nor how you could know what they were in any case. I hate to break this to you, but the “sex trafficking” laws all over the country are basically similar now; the only thing that differs dramatically is the aggressiveness with which cops pursue whores and/or clients. As long as you choose a lady who’s been around for a while and has a good reputation, you should be fine; the vast majority of men ensnared by cops are those seeking streetwalkers or reputationless, unverifiable Backpage girls. Cops have neither the time, the money nor the patience to set up a fake escort site and purchase ads on Eros and the like, and how would their fake escort get reviews from anyone but fake, reputationless “hobbyist” profiles also set up by cops? It’s much easier for them to put a pig in some Hollywood streetwalker getup or make up a fake Backpage “new in town” ad and then harvest the guys who are too cheap and/or too impatient to do their research.
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This kind of sting, where the cops use Backpage or a decoy, is what’s going on here in Marin, in one of two places–first, in San Rafael, in the Canal area, where most Latino men live, and second, in the next town north, Novato, where they Backpage prospective clients to a hotel right off the highway. Thus, almost all of the prospective clients they snag have Latino surnames.
One young man I know was snagged in the October Operation Cross Country sting. Yes, he has a Latino surname, but speaks perfect English–the back story is somewhat painful but indicative of why men go for sex to assuage deeper feelings of loneliness and loss. Because I had coached him in football about a year before, I recognized his name in the paper. He’d gotten snagged for solicitation, and that interaction is key: guys, if you want it quick and dirty over the internet, then never agree, on the phone, to anything specific, in that case. Agree only to pay for their time. You’ll be able to sniff out a sting if the decoy pushes for specifics, and besides, that’s entrapment.
When I told this to a county supe who was a city councilperson in San Rafael, he got a chuckle, which I cut short by reminding him that the sting is ‘supposed’ to be to rescue teen girls who have been romeo-pimped into the business–which is the smallest part of the industry–but because they find perhaps 5 kids a year, it’s a huge waste of resources. Of course he didn’t know that bit about solicitation, but being a lawyer he got it. And I will lean on him and his cohorts to stop wasting the taxpayers’ money.
“then never agree, on the phone, to anything specific” – I would also add, never agree using code words like ‘full service’ either.
Being asked about any thing specific is a huge red flag, it’s either law enforcement or someone not wise to the ways of business. Either way, walk away and live to play another day.
The economic aspects of the whole thing are pretty clear: A real escort (like any business) benefits very much from building up a good reputation, and she is going to maintain and expand it. For the cops, it is different. First, as Maggie says, they do not have a lot of time and money to spend. And second, they cannot produce any genuine satisfied customers. That means they will always go for a short-term operation, because they have to.
Reputation-systems are tricky in general, but this one is pretty easy to figure out as long as you are not looking for a bargain.
The letter writer is a person who desperately needs his local review board
I know Maggie is probably well aware of this one, but I thought I’d mention it here anyway.
During Operation Flea Collar, targeting the BigDoggie escort board in FL, escorts were turned into confidential informants leading to client busts.
http://adultinternetlaw.com/articles/police_investigation.php
http://www.sexwork.com/TBD/tbd.html
Still, it was an expensive operation and seems like it went badly for the Sheriff’s office, so there is that. Also, it’s a pretty old case, but I hear of LE targeting boards more recently too.
http://www.marketplace.org/2016/09/16/world/battle-against-sex-trafficking-turns-prostitution-review-sites
It seems like the Vice Squad were out for scalps there.
This gives me an idea for (part of) a movie plot. An established whore decides not only to quit the business but, for some movie-type bitter motive, to leave a smoking crater in her place, so she lets the pigs use her website for entrapment. How soon do clients catch on?