You’ve heard about travel clubs that offer “free” memberships, the ones that promise services but end up charging your credit card every month, providing virtually nothing in the way of benefits? How about “advance payment required” clauses for travel before a written contract is signed that end up leaving vacationers high and dry without recourse? And what’s up with different names and email addresses for travel providers and sellers, when you thought you were dealing with a single company?

If these tactics and travel jargon like “split pricing” and “fractional ownership” sound like a scam, they probably are — even more so as increasingly sophisticated networks of fraudulent operators and agents plumb the Internet, trolling for victims. Add to all these the classic travel scams — pickpockets, “gypsy” cabs and ripped-off credit card numbers — and travel seems like an exercise in self-preservation.

Welcome to the new age of travel — and get used to it, say consumer experts who monitor the broad array of travel scams. The good news is that despite the onus thrust on travelers, there’s almost always a warning that enables consumers to take evasive action.

“You have to realize that anytime you get a blind ‘You won’ notification, or you’ve been specially selected for an offer that seems too good to be true, it basically means that, yes, you have been specially selected — to be fleeced,” says Ed Perkins, founding editor of Consumer Reports Travel Letter, frequent travel consumer expert on ABC’s Good Morning America and contributing editor at SmarterTravel.com.

“There’s a hierarchy of scams,” he continues, “and the worst are the crooks that won’t give you anything and just want your money, period. The next tier and almost indistinguishable from outright crooks are individuals who misrepresent through lie and deception — the phony vacation promotions, timeshares — and might provide a marginal service or product but basically want your money.”

The practices Perkins cites aren’t just culled from research but are close-to-home experiences that, he says, are increasingly prevalent. “I’ve received vacation promotions in the form of certificates where you’re offered things for a low, low price, and when you try to book it — a condo rental, hotel, a resort package — it’s full. Eventually you reach a disconnected number and the perpetrators have won.”

Though there are numerous twists on this business model, the gist of it for consumers is “Pay now, argue later,” says Perkins.

According to the American Society of Travel Agents, the most worrisome scam, and the most prevalent, is when vacation club memberships demand payment up front for travel promised later — and never deliver. “The idea is to lure you into a club or an advance payment that is supposed to guarantee future travel at huge discounts. Simply turn and run,” advises Perkins.

In the case of timeshares — often developments strapped for cash that entice potential timeshare “owners” for ad hoc financing — it’s not so much an illegal scam as it is misrepresentation. So-called “fractional ownerships” frequently are more like “fictional ownerships” in which mounting yearly fees and add-on charges negate any advantages of membership in the first place. And “split pricing” is essentially timeshare double-talk for offering below-market pricing, then adding charges for items that appeared to be included in the first quote — a practice more common than most would think.

“It’s simply unethical sales tactics,” says Perkins. “Say you’ve won a free weekend to see a timeshare property. Nothing’s really free, and you travel somewhere to submit yourself to an extremely high-pressure sell. These people utilize exhaustively tested scripts and know what buttons to press.”

The scenario plays out in many major resort areas such as Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean, he says, often at locations other than the resort being sold. “I once knew a prominent assistant attorney general who went as an investigator to Hawaii to check on this exact thing and ended up falling for it after winning a free ticket to a luau.”

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Thanks to the Internet, the methods by which unscrupulous travel operators can separate you from your cash have burgeoned.

A trend gaining steam involves phony TripAdvisor and Yelp reviews. These aggregate review sites can be the first reference point for consumers researching where they want to spend their travel dollars. Since the “reviews” can be posted anonymously under pseudonyms, there’s little validity to supposed 5-star ratings that, in several instances that came to light, were crafted by hotel owners and travel operators themselves. These websites claim sophisticated computer algorithms ferret out fake reviews, but the best precaution is to look at collective evaluations on specific resorts from a variety of review sites and follow your instincts.

Another trending social media scam is fake travel vouchers offered on Facebook. Carriers JetBlue, Southwest and Delta Air Lines have all felt the sting from fraudulent free-ticket promotions. The scam uses a link to redirect users to a fake site appearing official, then prompts users to connect with the company’s own Facebook account, which installs an application. After accepting, the malicious application harvests the user’s personal information and can spam further “travel deals” to the user’s network of Facebook friends.

Once you’ve arrived at a destination, the playing field tilts in favor of your hosts. Old-fashioned pickpockets and unregulated “gypsy” cabs that avoid hotel queues and overcharge unsuspecting patrons continue to be thriving illicit enterprises, particularly in Italy, Spain and Turkey, according to VirtualTourist, part of the TripAdvisor Media Group.

“The language barriers and cultural sites are exciting, but they also open up travelers to scam artists and petty thieves,” says Blake C. Blanchard of VirtualTourist. “We’re distracted [during travel] by new places and big crowds that overload the senses, making it difficult to keep eyes peeled for cons and overly friendly locals.”

Beyond petty street crimes, hotels can be part of the fraudulent fray, employing various tricks to profit on a guest’s unfamiliarity. And not just in foreign locales. Here in the United States, many popular destinations walk the line where charges are concerned.

A classic hotel scam is not pricing honestly. When travelers check into a hotel expecting the rate they booked, they can find themselves shocked by additional charges, including daily taxes, resort fees and amenity charges, including Internet and fitness center fees. Hotels do not always fully disclose costs, which is jarring surprise at check-out or check-in for some travelers.

Front desk credit card scams are common, especially in high-volume hotels where guests are whizzing through on their way to business conferences and on the company tab — perhaps with less incentive to watch their bottom line. According to Internet consumer site ScamBusters.org, “Anyone who has tried to cram two days of work into a 12-hour business trip knows what kind of marathon activity that can entail. After a long day, you’re settling in for the evening in your hotel room when the front desk rings, asking your help in verifying your information.”

The scam occurs when the “clerk” — a con artist not employed by the hotel who may be operating in the lobby — obtains credit card information, then apologizes after claiming that the original check-in forms were found. Says ScamBusters, “Never give your credit card number out over the phone at a hotel. Ask for the name of someone to speak to and tell the caller you’ll come down in the morning to straighten out any confusion.”

Another fraudulent hotel scheme — aka the “hotel representative” — takes advantage of disembarking travelers at foreign airports for popular resort locations where English is not the primary language. Greeters with various signs prey upon arrivals, purporting to be emissaries from given resorts. “They’ll offer great rates and a ride to the hotel,” says ScamBusters, “and once you arrive, the hotel clerk will apologetically inform you that the promised rate has been filled for the evening, but they have rooms ready at twice the discounted rate.” Meanwhile, the hotel hawker who brought you here receives a commission for delivering victims.

Long gone are travelers’ checks, and compared to banks and currency exchange outlets like Travelex, ATMs have often become the cheaper, more convenient cash withdrawal alternative for many travelers. Naturally, they are ripe for scam artists worldwide.

These so-called high-tech “smart scans” range from fake ATM fronts that devour credit or debit cards along with PINs, to sophisticated plastic sleeves placed into the card slot that jam inserted cards, making users believe the card is irreversibly swallowed after the PIN is entered. Perpetrators then retrieve the cards and PINs and make withdrawals before victims notify their banks and credit card companies. “If at all possible,” warns travel expert site GlobeSpots.com, “only use ATMs in conjunction with banks that are open, and thoroughly check the ATM to see if tampering might have occurred — or simply be patient and wait until you have witnessed someone using it successfully.”

But a trick that’s endured for years is still a culprit when cash is involved. The “old money” scam takes advantage of foreigners unfamiliar with current currency in a given country. Rip-offs usually occur with street vendors but can involve larger merchants who sense vulnerability and dole out change for purchases with near-worthless currency. “Old (out-of-issue) money is often worth only a fraction of the new currency, or worse, nothing,” says GlobeSpot. Familiarize yourself via the Internet with the appearance of currency, they suggest. “The same warning applies to countries with double currencies like Cuba, with Cuban pesos and convertible pesos, where one convertible peso is worth 26 Cuban pesos.”

Red Flags

Heed the old adage, “If it sounds too good to be true …” and listen carefully for details. A classic come-on is a telemarketer claiming you won a vacation contest or lottery you didn’t enter.

Most bulk U.S. mail vacation deals are unscrupulous. If offered a bulk travel deal by email from an agent you never contacted, it’s certainly a scam. Offered a travel deal by phone? Ask for references and contact them. Research companies through the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection and the Better Business Bureau.

Never provide credit card or Social Security information over the phone or email to someone you didn’t contact first.

Read the fine print on any travel offer. Hidden processing fees and service charges can turn a deal into an expensive nightmare.

Beware of unsolicited 809, 900, 758 or 644 area code calls leaving messages of travel deals or contest winnings. These originate in the Caribbean and require you to make pay-per-calls that can tally $25 per hour. While many Caribbean agents are legitimate, no valid outfit requires customers to dial unregulated numbers.

Always use a credit card for transactions for future recourse and personal records. You have 60 days to dispute charges.

Never make a “pre-payment” and do not sign any contracts until you’ve received all the information promised. Never pay to receive information, a scam in itself.

Get in writing from a travel agent or vacation planning service information on cancellation and refund policies before signing a contract or making payments.

Watch out for Internet hotel/resort bait-and-switch scams that promise luxury but deliver sub-par experiences. Legitimate agents provide personalized travel itineraries and resort information well in advance, not simply generic website links. Ask exactly what to expect in accommodations and overall aesthetics, and get it in writing.

Shun high-pressure sales and telemarketing tactics that push you into making impulsive decisions. Deeply discounted “limited time-only” offers are almost always bogus and should raise a red flag about the company’s integrity.