TER as Evidence

I think LE loves TER. It's so easy and safe for them. Anyway, chasing hookers, strippers or johns is a lot less dangerous, and much more fun, than murderers, robbers, terrorists, drug dealers,or even drunk drivers.

Why not take it out of the digital age? Hook up with someone in a club? You see the merchandise first hand and can be pretty sure after a few trips that they're not LE. Or, friends with recommendations are a potential good source.

Responding to any ad has a risk, probably not high, but definitely there. Anybody else with ideas for hooking up?

That sounds like a sting to me. Half the BP women have no vetting process at all. In the P4P universe, if it's out of the ordinary red flags should wave.

Plus TER reviews aren't admissible in court. Any one (like a cop) could write a bunch of reviews and pretend it's evidence. They would have to find out who wrote them and then make them testify in court. For simple prostitution this is way too much trouble. Again, that woman sounds like a sting operation.

rockstar666 is right! Customers write the reviews on TER and there's no way to evaluate their truthfulness! Brilliant call on not turning on your web cam!

I'd move on

Sting operation or not, just too much trouble and too many red flags for me to bother with.
Especially off a back page ad.
There are 500+ more posted since you last checked. Try again.
Or, better yet, skip back page and go searching through TER.

Even if it's not a sting, she doesn't seem like a good bet to be legit. A lot of escorts are delusional about what makes a good vetting method, and come up with lame excuses for not having reviews. If she had them deleted, it could be because they were terrible.

When you're just getting started, you should stick with well reviewed providers until you've had enough experience to develop a better sense of the dangers. Rather than go straight to BP, why not check TER first for who's in your area?

I use to use backpage quite a bit (with varied results) when I was on the road and found myself in areas that were "strip club poor". Had one say a similar thing that she "confirmed" clients with a webcam visit, and it cost only a dollar. It was a scam, never could connect with her on the webcam (she blamed it on my server or something), and then she severed any communication. About an hour later I was contacted by my credit card company that there had been several large purchased on my card (to about $3500 in total) and wanted to know if I had made them, which I hadent. After MANY more calls to my credit card I did get the charges removed, but it took months. A couple of days after it had happened I was contacted by LE investigating the charges and said they knew from the charges that I had been dealing with were a know identity theft ring that targeted johns and wanted me to admit to solicitation (which I refused to do), and they were very "thorough" in their investigation of me trying to find something in my past to charge me with solicitation (or at least to try to scare me into admitting it, I was told several times that if I admitted to it they would only charge me with a misdameter). They were not able to charge me with anything but it wasn't a fun better part of a year. IMO most escorts are not going to do anything that could form a paper trail, but LE loves paper trails. I personally think that they violated my constitutional 5th admendment rights, but my attorney told me to drop it, it wasn't a fight I wanted to fight. So if it seams like it may be bogus, it most likely is, and big brother is watching you.

It seems more providers are being more careful these days either b/c of LE or trying to avoid the psychos.

I’m usually one not to be super-concerned; but I don’t like the idea of being on webcam and possibly being recorded even if it’s not LE – in today’s social-media internet world I would not want my face possibly been splattered all over the web.

For me – mainly the possibility of being recorded even if it’s not LE is a big enough turn-off to not partake.

It's a trap!

Impala: I wasn't as worried about the credit card/identity theft; I had planned to use a prepaid card anyway. Funny though, verification was supposed to cost $1 using ifriends.net. Sound familiar?

I also considered a cop using TER reviews to bluff his was to getting a confession. Either way, I think my curiosity was satisfied and I'll find my way to the nearest strip club :)

Yet more in the unending list of reasons why you should always, without exception, find your OTC dates in a club and not online. This ruke is right up there with never use a credit card. There are no exceptions. I have never used one of these websites, and I never plan to.

Do the webcam just put a bag over your head like shia labouf. Write "I am not LE" on it to convey a clear message. Should be good to go after that.

Actually, using online escorts is no riskier than OTC with strippers if you're careful about it. Guys get in trouble when they aren't smart about it or try to cut corners. The same holds true for dating strippers. Thinking with your big head is the one rule to obey in either field.

Yep, it was all about the CC number. Probably not even a woman on the other end.

Bottom line is giving an escort your CC number is less safe than giving a strip club your CC.

So, you need to enter a credit card number to get on the webcam with her?
Sounds like a webcam girl scam. That's about the only logical story behind the story you told.

I use TER often, and I'd take them over BP or CL in a heartbeat. Sure nothing's perfect, but with all of the screenings on TER I feel a little safer going all in.

I was much younger and even more stupider in those days. Learned valuable lessons about scams and cops, and that their both out to get you.

There are various ways an escort can "verify" you for the most part, just be sure it doesn't involve giving a credit card number.

The constitutional right to confront your accusers blocks the use of posts on TER as evidence in court. The cops would have to haul the reviewer into court to testify (unlikely).

That wasn't a real escort, that's some guy trying to pull a $200 affilaite sign up to ifriends.

Sorry to confuse the issue with actual law, but the reviews would be usable in a trial. They would not be admissible evidence of guilt because they are hearsay but could be used to impeach the accused prostitute if she testified.

Goodsouthernboy, I have to agree with everyone else -- pass on this. I've used Backpage before, but I've always cross-checked it with TER -- not just their reviews but their forums as well. A lot of guys don't post reviews but bring up potential dates on the different threads; a lot of the more-seasoned members tend to backchannel information, too. There are some other review sites as well, such as BigDoggie and Naughty Reviews; I haven't used them so I can't vouch for them.

Three reasons I can think of, off the top of my head, why she wouldn't have any reviews on TER: 1) like another person said, they were lousy reviews, so she deleted her account, 2) she's never had any reviews, and 3) she got booted from TER. Anything like that's a red flag for me.

A webcam meeting would be a red flag, too, especially if any request for credit-card information accompanied it. Why she wouldn't use a referral service, like RS2K, I don't know, which is another red flag for me.

Passing on this potential problem is easily the best option. Just take the time to do your research and you *should* be okay (no guarantees, after all).

To clarify a couple of points, only TER admins can delete a provider's profile. The escort herself can request it, but TER only complies under narrow conditions. What most escorts do when they want to disconnect from their TER history is to simply change their escort name and their phone number and make a fresh start.

Also, JS69 is partially correct in that TER reviews have been used in a very very few trials. However, it's incorrect to say that any reviews "would be usable" without knowing the specifics of the case.

Alright, so which ones of yall are actual lawyers?

As opposed to WikiLawyers?

Chandler, I don't really need to know the facts to know that if an accused takes the stand and claims that she is not a prostitute, then the prosecution could use her online reviews which suggest that she is prostitute to impeach her. Unless she had a credible claim that they are not her reviews, they could always be used for impeachment if she testifies. Technically evidence used solely to impeach is not admissible, but no juror understands or follows the distinction.

You don't need to be a lawyer to know what you're basic constitutional rights are. That's like saying you need to be an accountant to balance your checkbook.

@JS69: The proper course of action when asked *any* question by police is "I decline to answer any questions." Leaves nothing to impeach.

JS69, I based my contention on the fact that, as of about three years ago, when ProCon.org reported on this, there had been a grand total of no more than five known cases where TER reviews had been used in a trial. If their usability were such a slam dunk proposition, surely there would have been more.