I got a message from JeLOiRE that says "Hey, how are you? I would love to do a shoot with you" seems like a harmless message but I am very worried about getting scammed. Eager to get started but want to know how to find the scammers before replying to anything. Thanks in advance!(:

Anyone who wants to pay you ahead of time is a scam.

If it looks too good to be true, and/or makes unrealistic promises, or costs you money ahead of time, it is probably a scam.
-Don

First, a heads-up:  Revealing the contents of a private message is considered "outing" and is prohibited in the forums, the reason being that a private message is just that, private.  If you have serious reason to believe that a message that you've received from a member is a scam offer, you should CAM (Contact A Moderator) by using the FLAG option at the bottom left corner of each message.

Beyond that, the advice posted by the other respondents is very good. In this case, however, on the surface the message you received appears to be nothing more than a simple expression of interest from a photographer who is interested in shooting with you.  My suggestion would be to first, review his portfolio carefully, including both his profile and his portfolio and the interests he has selected in his side bar, to see if the kinds of things that interest him are the same as interest you.  If not, a simple "No thank you," response is all that's necessary--no need to explain why. 
     The next step would be to send  PMs to several of the models in his portfolio, asking them what their experience with him was like--Not just one or two, several, if he has several MM models in his portfolio.  If he's new, there may not be very many and in that case, you might, of course, ask him to supply you with the email addresses of several models with whom he's worked, and at the same time, use the search function in any forum, to see what posts he has made.  It can often tell you a great deal about a person.
     I also recommend, especially for inexperienced models, to try if at all possible to meet with the photographer in a public place such as a Starbucks, to discuss the possible shoot and to work out the details--what kind of pictures does he have in mind?  what use will be made of them?  will it be pay or TF?-- Communication between the model and the photographer is essential to any successful shoot.  This isn't always practical, but it's a good practice whenever it is.

Most of all, though, rely on your own good sense.  If the offer you receive seems out of line for someone with your experience, if you are offered money, transportation, housing or anything else of significant value in the first contact, it probably is a scam.

All IMHO as always, of course.

ETA-just looked at your portfolio and see that you've just posted an availability notice.  With any kind of luck, you'll soon  be getting a lot of messages like this one.

You will likely get a lot of great advice, as well as useless information.

The best gauge for scams is experience leveled with common sense.

You will only gain experience by working with both good AND bad photographers.

Commonsense is something that you either have or don't.

Major companies do not troll the ports here on MM, they contact reputable modeling agencies and hire agency models. And as said above, nobody pays in advance, ever, ever, ever.

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