How do I validate Private Lenders

[Kenneth Sesley]

HI. I am looking to secure hard and private money lenders that will help me in a niche foeclosure market. Basically I work to help  high equity owner occupied individuals, who for some reason have gone into default, obtain refinancing based primarily on the value of the home. I had been working through someone who had the lender, but because this person reneged on our split of the profits I am looking to find my own lender. 

Can some one tell me how to validate a private lender that I've found via the internet. What questions should I be asking before I give the personal information of a client to them. It seems that some who have responded are from foreign countries, posing as being from the US, due to the way they write.