How can you stay safe and avoid being scammed when giving money to people in a joint venture? Are there any ways of legal protection for yourself?
Get the law involved and create a preliminary contract which explains that this person cannot scam you and you cannot scam them... There is no other way legally to protect yourself to my knowledge. Regards
You can write up a contract, but if the other party breaches the contract it is a worthless piece of paper unless you have the money and resources to hire a lawyer and take them to court. If you are dealing with someone in another country you are very much going on trust.
Don't work with someone you don't trust. To the extent possible make sure as much of the ownership of any project is in your name. I don't mean hosting contracts, but ownership of domains and other assets. The simple reality is that it is never going to be cost effective to sue someone trying to enforce a contract on a small matter. Contract or not, you will be at the mercy of the other person if something goes bad. A piece of paper wont stop that - although it could be a minor deterrent, but not likely.