actually Shelley, how do you do a background check ?!... i did not point you in my comment btw, i'm not trying to insult your intelligence... but if the person you hire have no references, how can you check his/her background?

by asking for references, you can contact these old clients and see if they were scammed etc... that's the same for a job in real life you know, the new boss will verify your references by calling your old job... same if you lease an appartment... if you give no references, bye-bye...

i'm not telling it's the only solution, but checking background is the same... you have to know where that guy come from, and if on his path you see some scam or crap.

another question to ask is "how do you want to be paid?"... and "what will be the difference in price between an exclusive work and something the coder continue to own for resell etc"...