Buying from first time seller

Every seller has a first time selling so this is nothing against first time sellers. Still, a positive rating inspires more confidence when buying than no rating at all. Is there any way to at least somewhat protect yourself when buying from a seller with no rating? I would assume that a direct wire transfer to a seller's account would provide at least some protection from complete fraud since the seller would have to go through at least some kind of identification process to establish their bank account and this would be discoverable in a criminal or civil case. I do not know if this assumption is true.