-There are tons of scams, use your head (your big one) and don't take unnecessary risks. The most common scam asks you to pay a portion of the fee in advance (deposit) and then they ghost you. There are some legit girls that will require you to pay in advance but if you refuse to pay a deposit you will filter out 99% of the scams.
-Determining who is real and who is fake is a lot harder than people make it out to be. Verified pics on leolist are easily faked. Lyla and Tryst have a more thorough verification process but only some providers use them and they don't remove providers who scam people. Fake websites have been made in some cases. Some ads will link a random Onlyfans girl and steal her pics. Stolen pics don't always show up on reverse image search. It goes the other way too, sometimes legit providers will be really sloppy and their ad looks fake but they are real.
-Your best resource to determine who is real and who is fake are reviews on forums but this is going to give you a very incomplete picture. Check all of the forums not just this one because a lot of providers travel. Shill reviews/accusations are usually extremely obvious, check who is posting (# posts, how long they have had their account) to determine how reliable the info is. Try to stick with recent reviews when possible. Remember reviews are subjective so take everything you read with a grain of salt. Reviews are better used to determine if someone is legit or not rather than the quality of the service.
-Virtually all of the Asian girls on leolist use fake pics. Some will advertise as other races but you can tell by the really broken English. Occasionally there will be a traveling Asian provider with legit pics but they always have lots of reviews.
-Keep in mind the laws and regulations for various institutions. The threat of police stings is overblown but hotels and banks have strict polices against their services being used for these kinds of activities. Maintain plausible deniability, that means have a excuse ready if someone talks to you, pay in cash only, pull out an old keycard when you walk into the hotel. Nobody is going to be actively searching for you so just blend in and act normal.
-Your personal phone number is enough to get your full name and address, which some scammers will use to try and extort money. Just ignore these threats or even better use a burner phone so they can't get your info in the first place.
-More broadly be very careful with giving out personal info. Like with deposits some providers require this information, you can decide for yourself whether that's an appropriate risk to take.
-Avoid going to incalls in sketchy areas if possible. If you want to play it really safe only bring the cash you are going to spend, leave valuables at home, wallet stays in your car, use a burner phone. There have been instances of people getting robbed if you check the warning section but it's less common than your standard deposit scams and extortion.
-Be straightforward in your texting, give them your first name, tell them how long you want, give them a time that would work for you. Use full sentences but keep it brief. Try to use reviews to get info because they hate playing 100 questions with clients.
-Practice good hygiene. Shower+mouthwash right before your appointment, and if you show up and they ask you to again just do it.
-Give the money in an envelope at the start of the appointment without having to be asked.