This thread is deja vue all over again. So here is a repeat answer:
To really lower the risk, there needs to be Positive UKP reviews from members you trust. Other so called reviews mean almost nothing.
But sometimes we need to TOFTT (which means taking one for yourself and eventually giving back to the team - no sane guy really does it for other arseholes he has never met). A few of my TOFTT have been excellent. But to select these takes a combination of Klingon guile, Spider sense, and blind luck. There is no exact formula I can share. But IMHO AW, Ace, vivastreet, and all other sites are equally worthless, I don't favour AW, nor hate it particularly. I like its location feature and its huge content I confess.