How do we protect against this?

[coriolis888]

All the reviews, all the reverse image searches, all the Googling of phone numbers - these are productive functions for eliminating obvious fakes and bogus ads to avoid.

 

However, the below link takes you to a tragic case of a Washington, DC gay guy advertising for a male escort. Instead of receiving a male escort, he was robbed and murdered.

 

It is a good thing to occasionally be reminded that our little hobby can have horrible consequences.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/dc-lawyers-killer-sentenced-to-24-years-in-prison/2015/08/21e699d578-47f3-11e5-8ab4-c73967a143d3_story.html

[corndog]

That link doesn't work for me.

[coriolis888]

That link doesn't work for me.

 

 

Sorry, I have a subscription to the Washington post, the news "paper" that ran the article. Sometimes paid subscriptions will not allow copying of links.

 

The article can be Googled as the story is now with most news agencies.

[loverboy95]

404 Not Found.

[AdamSmith]

This link should work:

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/dc-lawyers-killer-sentenced-to-24-years-in-prison/2015/08/21/e699d578-47f3-11e5-8ab4-c73967a143d3_story.html

[caliguy]

My guess is that the Lawyer didn't do even the barest of checks. This wasn't just some over night thing for the scammer IMO. Just too planned out.

[AdamSmith]

And in any event, sex work is by some estimates a $15 billion-a-year industry in the U.S. alone.

 

How many encounters must that be, and how few of them result in murder?

 

I face worse odds of death or disablement driving to the store for a carton of milk.

[coriolis888]

 

This link should work:

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/dc-lawyers-killer-sentenced-to-24-years-in-prison/2015/08/21/e699d578-47f3-11e5-8ab4-c73967a143d3_story.html

 

 

Thanks for a link that opens the article.

[coriolis888]

And in any event, sex work is by some estimates a $15 billion-a-year industry in the U.S. alone.

 

How many encounters must that be, and how few of them result in murder?

 

I face worse odds of death or disablement driving to the store for a carton of milk.

 

 

Good points.

 

However, if you happen to be the one murdered, statistics are not much comfort.

[Frequentflier]

Does 24 years for murder sound light to anyone besides me?

[AdamSmith]

However, if you happen to be the one murdered, statistics are not much comfort.

 

Nor are they much comfort if I am one day done in on the way to the grocery. But I will probably carry on shopping until that happens.

[Kevin Slater]

And in any event, sex work is by some estimates a $15 billion-a-year industry in the U.S. alone.

 

That sounds far too low to me. That study suggests $14.6 billion spent across one million prostitutes, or $14,600 apiece annually. (Interestingly, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour at 50 weeks of 40 hours each gets us right to the same $14,600.)

 

Of course we can all fish google for our preferred estimates; my entry might be this study suggesting $55 billion a year for the US prostitution economy.

 

Kevin Slater

[AdamSmith]

Of course we can all fish google for our preferred estimates; my entry might be this study suggesting $55 billion a year for the US prostitution economy.

 

That estimate sounds a lot more like it. Mine was the only one I could put my hands on right off.

 

I think either of them makes the point that incidents of violence in sex-work situations are rare outliers that tell us little more than to observe the common-sense practices we all (provider and client alike) ought to be using in any event.

[Kevin Slater]

That estimate sounds a lot more like it. Mine was the only one I could put my hands on right off.

 

If more guys could put their hands right on it, the market probably would be closer to $15 billion.

 

I think either of them makes the point that incidents of violence in sex-work situations are rare outliers that tell us little more than to observe the common-sense practices we all (provider and client alike) ought to be using in any event.

 

Agreed.

 

Kevin Slater

[Irtwo]

Coriolis, not sure where you got the idea the victim was looking for a male escort. He placed on ad on Craigslist under men searching for men for a hookup, it wasn't an escort situation.

[coriolis888]

Coriolis, not sure where you got the idea the victim was looking for a male escort. He placed on ad on Craigslist under men searching for men for a hookup, it wasn't an escort situation.

 

 

It depends on which news agency you read. The issue was picked up by all the majors and smaller outlets. Some say it was an ad for a man, others say it was an ad for an escort.

 

Whatever which ad is correct, the guy was killed thinking he was going to meet with another guy.