Trust, or lack thereof

[Dax Mickelson]

It might just be me but I'm very leery in trusting people... especially if I've only every interacted with them online.  This might be due to my current career in IT as we are trained to not trust ANYTHING online.  However, I think the real issue is that I'm too trusting by default so I need to be extra vigilant when allowing people into my trust circle.

Anyway, my question is how do/can I trust here?  I'd like to ask questions, find networking connections, possibly even mentor/team with someone on some deals... BUT:
  * How can I ensure the person won't just "steal" my money or my deal?

  * Why would anyone provide "help" to a potential competitor?

There seems to be so many scams (most are obvious) online.  Alas, I live in a rural (small city) area so meeting people physically is going to be a rare event so I need to figure out how to overcome this fear/concern.

[Steven Foster Wilson]

@Dax Mickelson for one thing. Upload a picture of yourself. An explosion as your picture isn't exactly emitting truthfulness and reliability for others. (First impressions for people is huge).

Second don't think everyone is out for their own. In this industry there is a lot of people who have become wealthy and successful and simply want to give back out of pure joy for the industry.

Third and last, spend more time educating yourself on RE, the more you know, the more you will understand when something is "too good to be true".