Most likely they are scams however let me inform you why even legit providers may request this as some do.
1. soooo many no shows and fantasy bookers, address and pic collectors. It is incredibly frustrating when someone books and then ghosts and this happens ALOT. Now I’ve wasted my time and money to get ready and travel to my incall for nothing. It’s even worse when they book days or weeks in advance and then ghosts. More than likely I had someone else who wanted to book that same time slot in that time, most likely someone I have seen before and know would have actually shown up so now Ive lost out on even more money, other providers who had clients who wanted to book that time are out money and my incall is out money as well, some even charge the SP a cancellation fee. So in order to make sure you’re serious about booking some providers request a small deposit, usually 50-100 depending on her rates and amount of time booked.
2. GC’s are not as easy to steal from a provider as cash as they are most likely asking you for digital gc instead of physical ones. This means you purchase it and then send them the activation code so they can just enter it manually on their end and it’s done. Cash however is physical and therefore easy to steal from a provider, and it does happen, I’ve even had it happen to me before and it sucks.
3. Your best bet is to cross reference a potential provider here on Perb or check to see if she has a website, scammers aren’t going to take the time to build and maintain a website. Check if she has any social media presence that has been active for some time. Also trust your gut, if it doesn’t feel right don’t go through with it.
4. If you’re going to try to hire and SP from Vancouver to come all the way to Whistler expect to dish out $$ because doubtful any will travel 90 min-2hrs one way for just an hour booking, especially if they don’t drive or have a vehicle. Uber one way would easily be 200-300 and even if she does drive that long drive makes a one hour booking a 5 hour booking so her hourly rate is not going to be worth it. There are some agencies out there I believe, best bet to try one of them or visiting providers.
Best of luck.
