I just came back from my summer break and I've been trying to hookup with women for a while now here.

I've never been with one before, hell I've never even had a girlfriend. I've always been kinda awkward with the opposite sex, its just that I'm tired of being alone so I decided that I wanted to hook up with someone, I figured it would be easier since it was all online. I was wrong.

So I tried my luck here on a few subreddits that deal with this sort of thing. Everytime I posted something I've either been catfished or scammed.

Is there some kind of guide or method to hooking up online, a protocol to make sure that the person that you're talking with really are who they say they are. Or am I doomed

For clarification I'm an adult, 21 years old