Client Verification... Taboo?

[elliotpierce]

Yes, yet another post from me. I just like to gain as much knowledge as I can about things before jumping straight into the water and potentially being eaten alive by sharks.

 

As I'm sure [at least most of] you know, if you have seen my previous posts, my only advancing in escorting was aided by two female companions. Obviously most of their work involving straight male clients. Since taking a swing of my own, I've noticed that things are done much differently by us gay men than the way they do it. I do use them both as my check-ins, so before I see a client I will let them know my location, the amount of time I will be there, and when they can expect to hear back from me. I figure that's a pretty smart way to go about it.

 

But I've also picked up on a few other things they do to insure their safety, that I haven't seen much over here on our side. For instance, they have a very in-depth verification process. Clients/Escorts will use sites such as EscortPin, P411, DateCheck, or VerifyHim to allow verification. They both get high volumes of clients requesting appointments so I'm assuming these sites will verify you anonymously in case you're married, a government official, or need to insure discretion due to (insert reasoning here)... Another thing they do is collect the "donation" before beginning their appointments (whereas I've noticed with men a lot of clients prefer to take care of that during or afterwards), but that's beside the point.

 

So far, I've not really done a strict check on all of my clients, but they have all turned out to be fairly normal guys. However, recently, a bill passed here in North Carolina enlisting advertising/promoting as an escort can be classified as a felony. So now I really have to watch my back.

The both of them have cancelled all appointments in NC, and the agency they work for as since shut down and moved the majority of their bookers out of the state just over the weekend; I have continued booking and taking appointments...

Looking more into the law, I didn't find anything that specifically said you couldn't advertise, period. Only advertising sex, which none of my profiles do. They state that I have a "wide variety of services that may be discussed upon association."

 

So now that you've read my novel, here's the question: Do any of you have a specific way to verify your clients, or for us is client verification more "laissez-faire" for us than it is for them?

[tom1980]

As a client, I've had escorts vet me in different ways. I've never heard of the verification services you mention and cannot imagine a way to verify someone using such a service that would allow the guy to remain anonymous. Hence, you end up with indictments revealing the identity of client # 9.

 

The most cautious escorts I've seen want to meet in person, in public before giving their home address or hotel room number. I'm okay with meeting in the hotel lobby or whatever ahead of time. A couple of escorts have demanded that I give them the phone number for a landline where they can call me. That is not okay with me; so I politely decline and say that I am no longer interested in meeting them. A few times when escorts wanted some sort of verification, I have told them my identity on this forum to allow them to check out my profile and posts if they want to learn a little about me before meeting. If the escort is a member we can PM to verify who I am. If not, then he has to join or take my word for it.

 

Generally, if an escort seems paranoid or too interested in knowing my full legal name, address, home phone number, social security number, etc., I move on. If you ask clients to go through some sort of verification process, I'd expect you will have trouble staying busy.

[+ not2rowdy]

This post will likely open a hornet's nest.

 

If a person invites you to an outcall at his home you MIGHT be able to get some verification from public records. Most states have web sites that allow you to research home ownership based on a variety of input. Address is one of those. Type in an address and it will tell you who is the "owner of record". However, the "owner" may not be the person living there. Maybe the home is rented. It also does not work for apartments. Information can be found on the COUNTY (not city) website. You want the County Assessor section.

 

For example: Mecklenburg County, NC

We will search for the owner of 413 Mammoth Oaks Drive in Charlotte, NC

By the way, I've never been there or been on their website before I wrote this (which took about 15 minutes). The point is that almost all tax jurisdictions work this way.

 

http://meckcama.co.mecklenburg.nc.us/relookup/

 

In the upper left change Search By from Owner Name > Address

 

Type in > Mammoth Oaks

Just type the Street Name. Leave all the other fields blank.

 

Hit Search. It will bring up ALL homes on Mammoth Oaks.

 

Got to page 2 and scroll down to 413 Mammoth Oaks Drive.

The owner is Helms Construction Group, LLC

 

Click on the number on the left side and you will find lots of info about that address.

[+ Chris Eisenhower]

If you ask clients to go through some sort of verification process, I'd expect you will have trouble staying busy.

 

Elliot,

 

You'll quickly realize that male escorting and female escorting are two different animals with very few similarities between them. Both zebras and tigers have stripes, but that doesn't make them anything close to being the same. And that's fine, actually.

 

Any sort of "verification" that you do of clients will likely be due to your own handiwork using whatever data you can glean from Google about the information a client has given you, intentionally or otherwise. Most of the time you'll have to go with a gut feeling about the way someone presents their information to you, and hope for the best. A very healthy percentage of potential clients are legit, good guys who aren't out to scam you, or are law enforcement... but of course you do have to be careful with where and how you advertise. Many clients will resist your overt attempts to verify them, whether it's through your request for a phone number, or requiring an actual conversation, or a picture. Determine what information you absolutely require to set up an appointment, and try not to deviate from that policy much, if at all. A key skill is to make clients feel comfortable with talking to you and opening up. IMHO very, very few flakes or time-wasters will be able to (or want to) carry on a conversation that is non-sexual in nature, or meant to get to know a client better. They're creepy, or socially inept, or they're gonna want to hear you talk dirty so they can spank that monkey.

 

Remember that ultimately you'll be successful or not based on your ability to be a good escort and to provide what clients are looking for, not whether you are able to weed out real clients from fake ones. And just don't do anything dangerous or stupid... trust your instincts and be ready to walk away from something that appears too good to be true, or is an obvious red flag.

 

Regarding looking up property records... this can be useful for determining if an address actually exists and who owns it. The same goes with a cell phone # search function, if you are being contacted by someone you think is playing games. IP addresses are good for this as well. You might be able to find a Facebook listing and see what the person looks like. But realize that many times a client will give you a generic name and the account holder is going to be someone different. This shouldn't be a reason not to see someone... after all, it's unlikely your name is "Elliot."

 

It can be very frustrating to have to deal with game players and flakes, but don't let that keep you from having a good time with the guys who appreciate you and what you do for them. That's a very real reward that should more than offset any problems you might encounter in this vein.

[elliotpierce]

Thanks for all of your good advice. And Chris, I appreciate your giving me the low-down on this. Having read some of your reviews, I trust your word on these subjects. Maybe/hopefully we could get together when I'm in DC and you could give me some pointers? If you're not too busy.

[Keenan]

As a client, I've had escorts vet me in different ways. I've never heard of the verification services you mention and cannot imagine a way to verify someone using such a service that would allow the guy to remain anonymous. Hence, you end up with indictments revealing the identity of client # 9.

 

The most cautious escorts I've seen want to meet in person, in public before giving their home address or hotel room number. I'm okay with meeting in the hotel lobby or whatever ahead of time. A couple of escorts have demanded that I give them the phone number for a landline where they can call me. That is not okay with me; so I politely decline and say that I am no longer interested in meeting them. A few times when escorts wanted some sort of verification, I have told them my identity on this forum to allow them to check out my profile and posts if they want to learn a little about me before meeting. If the escort is a member we can PM to verify who I am. If not, then he has to join or take my word for it.

 

Generally, if an escort seems paranoid or too interested in knowing my full legal name, address, home phone number, social security number, etc., I move on. If you ask clients to go through some sort of verification process, I'd expect you will have trouble staying busy.

 

Escorting in general has a certain amount of risk. I typically verify a client by talking to them on the phone. If things sound right then I will proceed. I think talking to the men you will meet before meeting them is the best way to screen them. You get an idea of what they are like.

 

Keenan

[+ Chris Eisenhower]

Thanks for all of your good advice. And Chris, I appreciate your giving me the low-down on this. Having read some of your reviews, I trust your word on these subjects. Maybe/hopefully we could get together when I'm in DC and you could give me some pointers? If you're not too busy.

 

You're welcome, E. I'm actually in the process of setting something up to do some travel as well that's going to overlap with yours, so I'm not sure I'll be here yet. Will keep you posted.

[Atomicshawn]

Escorting in general has a certain amount of risk. I typically verify a client by talking to them on the phone. If things sound right then I will proceed. I think talking to the men you will meet before meeting them is the best way to screen them. You get an idea of what they are like.

 

Keenan

 

 

I totally agree with Keenan. Phone conversations reveal a lot about a person in a short amount of time. I NEVER take appointments without talking to the client on the phone. Some clients text or email but if no phone convo, no appointment. I also meet people in my lobby as a courtesy rather than having them knock on a door. I find that they like that and it puts first timers at ease.

 

As far as vetting them and forming a go or no-go decision to meet them for a session, I'd say that a mutual respect for eachothers privacy goes a long way. If they don't know specific details of where I live and other sensitive information then I don't need to know theirs.

[SteveEscort]

I've never in almost 14 years vetted a single client. I can tell on the phone who is genuine and who just really isn't. It's not hard. The most I vet clients is by ringing them back via the hotel switchboard to verify they're in the room. It's practically impossible to vet incall clients and to be honest in 14 years I've never ever had a bad client at my home. I've had my fair share of arseholes but never ones where I thought I was in danger.

 

I'm lucky in England. Sex work isn't illegal, therefore I am not looking over my shoulder at law enforcement.

 

The only thing I do and I admit to doing is occasionally when I get a new client I will pop their phone number into google and see what it throws back. My number is on google so if they're a business guy its likely theirs is, its a reassuring way to see if someone is genuine or not and does no one any harm. If they don't want you to know who they are, they should use a different phone...... Simple !!!

 

I've never felt the need to use verification sites. If my gut reaction on the phone is "tosser" he doesn't get any further than that phone call.

 

A word of advice for new escorts. Never be swayed by huge sums of money. If he offers you more, there's always a price to pay for it. Never take appointments over 30 miles away with newbies, get them to wire you a deposit. It's not hard to set up an online money account in your working name and the minute the cold caller, you've never heard from before, rings at 5pm for a 1am outcall, needs half a dozen cock and face pics off you and can't talk a the moment and can only text, is the time to just put the phone to one side and ignore. Genuine clients will phone you if they're serious and 1am clients who ring 8 hours earlier, forget you when they're drunk at 11pm.

 

These rules have set me in good stead and weeded out the bad from the good. The clients are mainly good, but some are down right dicks,

[tom1980]

Genuine clients will phone you if they're serious . . .

 

I'm a genuine client, and I do not talk on the phone. I do not call because my cell phone is owned by my company and all calls have to be charged to a client or the call has to be to a pre-approved phone number on my personal account. I don't want to get another phone to carry around because that would be difficult to explain to my wife if she ever saw it. I can text and email through google, but calls with google voice use the phone signal instead of the internet and show up on the bill (I discovered that by having to explain a personal call that wasn't to an approved phone number to the accounting department). If I knew of any pay phones still in operation, I suppose I could use them to make a call. Guys with suspicious or jealous significant others who receive or have access to their phone bills would have the same issue I do.

 

If you require a phone conversation before meeting me, I'm okay with that. I understand your policy and why you think it is important, but I tell escorts who make such a demand that I cannot call them and that they apparently aren't the guy for me. Sometimes escorts get really offended by that, and I do not understand why. I admit that I cannot satisfy their prerequisite and assume that they won't want to see me. That inexplicably angers some people. Whenever it happens, I'm just thankful to have dodged a bullet because I know I wouldn't have wanted to see an escort who gets upset over such a stupid issue anyway.