If you go the HML route, do some due diligence on the lender (there are alot of scams going on right now) and find out all their terms so you can negotiate the best deal (pay attention to all fees and pre payment penalties). 

Forget web-based sellers of lender lists, most of which are scams, and multi-state far-away lenders, who likely have no understanding of you or your area and might not be sympathetic to any problems you might have after you’ve borrowed the money.6) Do understand licensing and usury requirements in your state, at a minimum.

Any funds requested thru Wal-Mart or CVS are scams. 

Willden Family Investments LLC is a SCAM. 

At this point, I don't feel like I'm getting scammed, but I sorta do.

I’ve encountered some fake profiles on FB trying to scam people as a lender so I’d like to know what is “normal”.

I am all for warning others about scams, but what was the scam here?

What is common practice and what are the best ways to check the validity of a lender and protect oneself against scams?

Other than getting suckered in with a Nigerian Prince (or variants) scam, is this a common occurrence or did I just lucky/unlucky?

I suggested giving the funds to an attorney in trust and releasing them at due time, which seems the safest way to protect myself from a scam.