I would advise searching the scam accusation board here.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=83.0 to check and see if specific individuals have been referenced.
When dealing with someone, feel free to ask for their references, and look for written references from other members. If I write, yeah trust me, theymos vouches for me, and I can't provide documentation to back that up, its probably a good idea to walk away.
Just do a bit of background searching, check their last posts, make sure they don't have any scam accusations, and using Escrow is always a great idea if both of the members in business are new or don't have a positive or negative record. Any of the trusted members will offer an escrow service, sometimes free, sometimes at a 1% fee. Two names that come to mind are Kludge and DeathandTaxes.
Don't be constantly afraid of getting scammed, there are good people out there too, but just be constantly weary of anything that just doesn't look right. Anyone with what you perceive as odd behavior, take extra precautions or just don't deal with them at all.
*Very Special Note* Being a new member, I can guarantee someone will accuse you of scamming in the near future. My best advice here (assuming you aren't scamming) is keep a level head, provide proof or extra assurances that you can't scam, offer to use escrow or what naught. You don't know how many times I've seen a new member questioned about something, they take it personally, get all offended, and start portraying behaviors of a scammer (whether they were or weren't)
I myself have lived by these rules, and never been scammed. I started as a new member, trading with trusted members ( I think my first buy/sell was with Tecshare) and my first major trades were with Pirate40 lol, I actually bought a few hundred BTC from him with MoneyPak, until I got to the point where I had a back record to back me up with some minor trades, and now most people would be comfortable trading with me. If they aren't, I'm perfectly fine with Escrow too.
