The advertisements appearing in major US newspapers offered attractive vacation packages with car rentals, gift certificates and housing in well-known hotels. Would-be vacationers sent in $202,000 in checks and money orders to private mail boxes.
But there was one problem. It was a scam, according to federal officials.
They arrested California residents Sheryl Denise Davis and Daniel Wallace Smith on 14 counts of mail fraud. The pair pleaded not guilty.
The pair placed the ads in major papers including the Arizona Republic, the Chicago Sun Times, the Los Angeles Times, the San Diego Union Tribune, The Oregonian in Portland and newspapers in Salt Lake City, prosecutors said.
They allegedly paid for the ads with forged checks from nonexistent bank accounts, according to newspaper reports.
The mail fraud charges each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, with a potential extra five years because the pair is alleged to have engaged in telemarketing fraud.
Report by David Wilkening
