I've been on here for a few months now, and I see people posting about scammers in here all the time. Tonight I was fortunate enough to encounter my first scammer, and I saw him coming from 200 miles away and I promptly told him "No way".
Don't fall for the scammers games, guys. They message you out of the blue, tell you that you're cute and they like you and they want to come and be with you and do all of these unheard of sexual things to you... but wait... there's a catch:
"I ran out of gas. I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts!"
It sounds bad, I know... But, if you send them a few hundred dollars, the world will once again be righted and they will come directly to you and it will be nothing but sunshine and happiness until the end of time.
DON'T DO IT!
My rendition of what may happen is, clearly, overly dramatic and you can (hopefully) see that what I've laid out before you is a load of crap. The kids with the to-die-for sexy pictures who say they love you will not be as obvious. Regardless, you must resist them.
If they truly are homeless, stranded, etc there are resources available to them who will help them:
They can post on their local Craigslist for somewhere to crash for a few days. It will be much easier for them to get somewhere local (and at no cost to you, to boot!) than for you to give them money to fly/drive/bicycle to wherever you are.
They can go to a shelter. There are 3,500+ shelters in the US. Some cater specifically to Youth -- some even to GLBT youth. (http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/)
No car, no gas, pogo stick broken? No way to get to the shelter? They can call the local police. They will gladly take them to a shelter.
Did their parents throw them out because they're gay? Call the local PFLAG office. They'll put 'em up for a few days and help them get back on their feet. (http://community.pflag.org/page.aspx?pid=256)
You do not have to help them. Their predicament whether real, or most likely, a fictionalization is not your fault. They were like that when you found them, and they will be like that when you keep on walking. The above resources are available to them free of charge. Keep your money, buy yourself something pretty -- don't give it to them.
Bottom line, please don't send them money. It's a trick. If it sounds too good to be true (i.e.: drop-dead gorgeous guy telling you that you're hotter than an oven on the sun, when you know good and well that you're an elderly bald man*, and he wants nothing more than to be snuggled up in your arms tonight.) it probably is.
Common sense is the rule guys.
* Nothing against elderly bald men, by the way. I just needed an example. Everyone is beautiful in their own way.