This is all in my somewhat educated opinion-- In a place that has reputable agencies, agencies take a lot of the risk out of an encounter. I'm the most willing to TOFTT with an agency provider. At a minimum you are very unlikely to be straight up robbed by an agency girl.
The next group of providers are the independents. People with a web presence and some level of community / public engagement. You should should still do your due diligence, and not be too quick to do deposits or really invasive screening, but they generally value their reputations and are usually a pretty safe bet (if you're not stupid).
Then there are the classifieds only providers (maybe with some very limited socials). Many quality independents have classified ads, and there are good to great providers who are classifieds only. However, you have to be very cautious when dealing with classifieds providers, and have a well thought out screening system. Even then you will get taken sooner or later. Classifieds providers are like hunting for gems, that you know are there, in a dumpster in a warm place. You know the gems are there, but there's also a lot of hot garbage, and God only knows what biting and stinging things are creeping around in there with you.
