Maybe he's been set up by somebody more sophisticated and more sinister. 

You do not give up easily (sarcasm).Where you using any approach that is more sophisticated? 

Now, I am not a sophisticated investor, but I have enough scars to know better than to respond to those emails, but they lean heavily into their brand and reputation and even have some big names right here on BP leaning into those as defenses in this thread. 

I think the truth that your post brings is in the level of sophistication and market insights of the investors and investment sponsors that are prevalent on these forums, the amount of money we are talking about, and the general idea that real estate, even when directly owned, is passive in nature.

Unfortunately social media has become a tool that's made it easier for many of these investment companies to get in front of their targets and suspect they invest heavily in SEO services  to get in front of the desired clients (those who lack the sophistication or resources/ability to conduct proper diligence).

For small projects and so for the vast majority of sophisticated investors, the DLT is years away.

They have ways now to know where the oil is under the ground that are more sophisticated than random wildcat drilling.

I bet it would be clean and sophisticated, no ?

When you first start out you will likely be less sophisticated regarding deals that you will actually pursue so my best advice is to not become a tire kicker who looks at everything and then never closes deals.

It would be overwhelming to pay for advanced training in a high-performance, sophisticated, multi-engine fighter jet when you're still trying to land the airplane safely.