About five years ago I wrote about a travel scam that typically came by letter or postcard and offered free airfare and a hotel stay any city served by an airline (pick an airline, any airline).

The scammers’ plan was to lure you to a meeting where they would aggressively push you to join a “travel club” with the promise of discounted travel is you would pony up the membership fees.

Over the next three years I updated the story whenever I read about “travel club” promotions of this kind taking place, and I continued to receive postcards and letters with “free” airfare and hotel stays, some involving airlines, others offering travel on cruise ships.

It was quite easy to spot these less-than-forthright offers when they arrived in the mail and then toss them in “the round file.”

But last Thursday I encountered the latest travel scam which came not in the mail, but in a phone call.

Here’s what happened.

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