I advise that you always go to the board that the reference is associated with or moderates, look up their profile and ensure you have the right e-mail address or mail them through the site. That way you will be sure that you are talking with the right person.
One of the oldest scamming tricks in the book is to list similar e-mail addresses of respected members and Moderators. When you mail you get a glowing reference because you are speaking with the scammer not the person you intended. There have been many impersonators over the years so yes a good idea to get references but always contact them through the board they are associated so you are 100% sure you are talking with the right person.
Also people do change their e-mails for whatever reason so this again protects a legitimate source if he has old details so everyone wins EXCEPT scammers
Wrongun!