You are right to be cautious when investing your money in these animals, you need to background research and even talk to others who have purchased from them. On THIS site, I think it will be hard to find someone who is scammer and still a part of this community. The same can be true in the overall reptile community, most often it doesn't take long for a shady dealer's name to spread like wild fire to others. This doesn't mean that every small dealer who doesn't yet have an established name yet is a bad guy, but it never hurts to ask for references and such.