is my Private Money Lender legit?

[Korie Brunet]

I am a fairly new investor interested in a distressed property in my area. I have been communicating with a PML about funding this day but just today after speaking to him on the phone for the first time (numbers and proposals have been via email), I got a sinking feeling he may be trying to scam me. I can not find him nor his company on google and when I ran a search on his phone number it came back with a completely different name. I was so excited to move forward but he is asking for a 2k fee upfront (to be reimbursed at closing) before I receive the funds. I am nervous this is the scam. Any tips on how to spot a scam? I was so excited but now I'm nervous about this.

Thank you!

[Jay Hinrichs]

the industry is infested up up front fee scammers posing as PML  .. I got an e mail a few days ago. ( they troll BP) 

and of course they fund nationwide  10k to 100 mil  :)..  but then website and e mail are G mail  and location is Las Vegas as well as his phone number and of course in NV you must be state licensed and NMLS registered to operate there..  when I asked for both of those he said well I dont actually lend in NV..  Either way does not matter if you lend there or not if you domicile your business there you need a license.. we never got farther than that.  But next up would be great rates back and forth and when they think they have you hooked then comes the ask for the up front money.