payments

Are escort deposits safe?

Deposits are one of the most common sources of confusion — and scam attempts — in booking a companion. They are also entirely legitimate when used correctly. In New South Wales the underlying bookings are lawful — sex work between consenting adults has been decriminalised here since 1995 — and the deposit itself is a private-contract matter governed by the terms you agree (see Part 3 of the Summary Offences Act 1988 on the NSW Legislation site for the offences that do remain). This guide explains what deposits are for, how to tell a real deposit request from a fake one, and what fair terms look like before you send anything.

Why companions ask for deposits

Companions ask for deposits because a deposit shifts a share of the no-show risk onto the client making the booking. A deposit is a partial upfront payment that confirms a booking, and for a companion the largest single cost of the work is the no-show or last-minute cancellation — time blocked out, turned down other work for, and then lost. Deposits are therefore most common for:

• Outcall, where the companion travels to you.
• Longer engagements — dinner dates, overnights, travel.
• First-time clients, where there is no booking history to rely on.
• Tour bookings, where the companion has travelled to a city specifically.

None of this is unreasonable. The question is never “are deposits legitimate?” — they are — but “is this deposit request legitimate?”

What a legitimate deposit looks like

A fair deposit request has clear, written terms before you pay:

• The amount — usually a defined percentage of the booking or a flat figure, not “whatever you can send”.
• The method — a payment route the companion lists on their profile, not a random app account created that day.
• What it secures — confirmation of a specific date, time and duration.
• The cancellation terms — whether it is refundable, up to when, and what happens if the companion cancels.

A professional treats a deposit like a contract: clear terms, in writing, before payment. If you cannot get the terms in a message, do not send the money.

Legitimate companions expect you to ask these questions and answer them readily. Asking about deposit terms is not rude — it is exactly what a careful client should do.

Red flags for deposit scams

Most deposit fraud follows predictable patterns. Be wary if you are asked to:

• Pay a deposit before any real conversation about a booking — before a time, duration or location is even agreed.
• Send payment by gift card, cryptocurrency to an unknown wallet, or a peer-to-peer transfer to an account with no profile history.
• Pay a “screening deposit”, “verification fee”, or “age-check fee” on a third-party site that asks for your card details.
• Send increasingly larger amounts — a deposit, then a “travel fee”, then an “insurance fee” — with the booking never quite happening.

A common scam is the companion (or a fake profile) who insists on a deposit, sometimes small, and then disappears or asks for more. The protection is simple: only pay a deposit once a real booking is agreed, only use a method tied to a verifiable profile, and never pay fees whose purpose you cannot explain. According to Scamwatch, relationship scams are among the most frequently reported scam categories in Australia, and they often work through exactly these small, escalating payment requests — Scamwatch’s relationship scam warnings list the signs to check.

How to reduce deposit risk

You can keep deposit risk low without refusing legitimate companions:

• Book through verified profiles with history, reviews and a consistent presence.
• Get terms in writing — amount, method, cancellation window — in the message thread.
• Prefer methods with some protection where possible, and avoid irreversible transfers to brand-new accounts.
• Match the deposit to the booking — a modest percentage is normal; the full fee upfront, for a first booking, is not.
• Keep records of what was agreed, in case of a dispute.

If you are caught despite all of this, report it: payment scams can be reported at report a scam — Scamwatch, and online payment fraud can also be reported through ReportCyber, the national reporting service led by the Australian Federal Police.

If a companion cancels

If the companion cancels, a fair policy returns your deposit in full or reschedules it to a new date. Cancellation works both ways: if you cancel inside the agreed window, you should expect to lose the deposit — that is precisely what it insures against. See our cancellation policy guide for how these terms are typically structured.

Deposits, used properly, protect both sides and let companions offer bookings they otherwise could not afford to hold. Used as a screen for scams, they are the most common fraud in the space. The difference is entirely in the terms, the method and the profile behind the request — so check those three things every time.

Sources & further reading

• Scamwatch — relationship scams — the ACCC’s Scamwatch service documents how relationship scams build trust before requesting payments, the core pattern behind fake deposit requests.
• Scamwatch — report a scam — the official reporting channel for payment scams in Australia, which feeds the warnings that help others recognise the same patterns.
• Summary Offences Act 1988 No 25 — NSW Legislation — the in-force text confirming the narrow offences that remain now that sex work between consenting adults is decriminalised in NSW.

Related reading

• How much is an escort in Sydney? — payments guide — How much an escort in Sydney costs: typical hourly rates and durations, what agency and independent prices include, deposits, extras, and what moves a rate up or down.