How do you avoid shady deals and bad partnerships when it comes to business and entrepreneurship?

I'm currently in college and thinking of majoring in business. This is the first thing i thought about when it comes to the drawbacks of business, there will always be dishonest people out there looking to cut corners and scam others to get what they want. How do you protect from this kind of thing?

Do things like location make a difference? just wondering /biz/.