I agree. Paid sex should be like any other business, regulated and with transparency (think BBB, Yelp, etc.). Of course clients would be reluctant to post reviews of prostitutes, for the same reason for which mental health providers garner far fewer Yelp reviews than do gardeners and hairdressers, but maybe some anonymized version of Yelp for sex work would do. I know that Nevada brothel websites post client testimonials, but with first names only, and nobody knows what happened in reality. It should be as transparent as Amazon, Etsy, and Ebay, with public percentages of client satisfaction. But it is not, which is why you got ripped off. Repeating - illegality and lack of transparency and accountability are breeding grounds for shady practices and yes, you are likely to lose money because of all the users of this shady system, you are the most naive, so no wonder you got ripped off.

you could really benefit from CBT, because the way you think of cause and effect - thanks Harley for catching - is a classic example of cognitive distortion. A textbook example, really. I mean, really - a hopeful first time customer enters a grey market having no insider knowledge or connections, on the one hand, and displaying higher than average anxiety, on the other hand. An unscrupulous seller quickly recognizes the high anxiety of her bidder and determines that this one will be especially easy to game.

In this scenario, the odds of your being ripped off are, roughly, 95%.

So you get ripped off but disregard the fact that getting ripped off was almost a certainty and say that your virginity caused it. It is almost a little grandiose to think so, because you think of your personal parameters causing the events that in reality were caused by the operation of market forces. The only virginity that raised the likelihood of your getting ripped off is the lack of experience hiring hookers. I am sure that had you had 5 gfs in the past, you would still have gotten ripped off because as a hooker customer, you would have been as much as a naive virgin as you are now.

your next step is to say that bad things happen only to you. It is like saying that only you do not win lotteries. Another cognitive distortion.

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I agree with Sophiesmom that a courtesan would be preferable for you. Or a geisha. But not a hooker. I just don't know where you could procure one safely.

speaking of Craigslist, in or around 2008 a prostitute placing ads in san Francisco was murdered. The response should have been to decriminalize, legalize, and regulate. Instead, Craigslist promised to I stitute tighter controls, rolled eyes.