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!