First of all, no worries. Craigslist 'agency' ads are the big concern. Many are legit but ya never know. Just play it safe, stay away from those and you're 100% golden.
Upscale anmas have no problems. They have informants (and you know how they take care of these informants
)in the police that will tip them off to any move on their business and they have tons of security cameras to protect them from raids. Plus, ever wonder why there's a phone in each room? Yep, the front desk has a panic button that will immediately alert all rooms that a raid is going on. Girls will put their clothes on and robe you. The police can't do anything since they'll have no record of any price negotiation or exchange of money. And ever wonder why they have multiple floors or twisting corridors and more rooms than they could possibly need? get it now
Again, upscale anmas are very well protected and you can frequent those with complete peace of mind.
Don't know much about the barber poles (never went to those).
Basically, the main reason why the national police is making a move on the internet is because after the complete shutdown of Yongsan Station and the crackdown on 588, many of the establishments moved to office-tels and online escort agencies. The main issue is image and taxes. Places like Yongsan where girls stood in the window were considered and eyesore and unpleasing to the public image thus the government wanted them cleaned out. And as far as the tax issue is concerned, online agencies and office-tels do not declare taxes and are banking big time. If there's one thing the Korean government doesn't like is not getting their money. Upscale anmas are technically licensed as "massage therapy" "spas" or "skin care" businesses and pay their taxes accordingly plus they don't look sleezy like hooker hill, 588 or the old yongsan row... thus the government often looks the other way.
But I don't want to create a panic bros. Just stick to the top anmas and the trusted independents such as Tiffany, Tina, Janice, Tina Yang and Heather...and you're completely safe.