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Coupon clippers throughout the United States were duped out of "tens of thousands of dollars" last year by a Scottdale couple who sold counterfeit discounts from the comfort of their living room via the Internet, according to police.

Glenn Schwartz, 41, and Joanna Schwartz, 37, both of 2 Second Ave., were arrested this week by state police at Greensburg and charged with multiple counts of forgery, access device fraud, illegal use of communication devices, theft and conspiracy in connection with the alleged coupon scam allegedly conducted through Internet auction sites.

Although state police troopers Glenn K. Bard and Michael C. Taylor did not disclose the total amount obtained by the Schwartzes in the scams, investigators are continuing to tally the receipts, according to Trooper Jeanne Martin, public information officer for the Greensburg barracks.

"You're looking at a very substantial amount -- tens of thousands of dollars -- because records indicate there were so many transactions," Martin said.

The director of an Alexandria, Va., consumer watchdog organization concurred.

"You've heard of organized crime. Well, you could refer to this as disorganized crime because it's really difficult to track with all the fictitious accounts needed to carry it out, and I really do give the investigators up there all the credit in the world. The problem with this fraud is it has to be tracked over the Internet and once one person buys an electronic file of coupons or a disc, that buyer could then start selling it, and before you know it that person probably sold it to several hundred more people," said Bud Miller, executive director of the nonprofit Coupon Information Corp.

"It's like a computer virus itself."

The CIC, a consumer watchdog group of product manufacturers fighting coupon fraud and misredemption, assisted area investigators during the eight-month investigation of the Schwartzes.

According to documents filed before Scottdale District Justice J. Bruce King, the investigation initially began Sept. 23 in Huntington, Ind., when a resident there, Melissa Phillips, complained to Huntington County Sheriff Kent Farthing that she had purchased several coupons on the Internet auction site eBay that were worthless.

According to the arrest affidavit, Phillips complained that after she printed out coupons she purchased from an eBay auction, she attempted to redeem them at a local grocery store. Phillips said the store refused to accept them, and store officials there informed her they were counterfeit.

Police allege that the Schwartzes sold the coupons to Phillips on the Internet auction site listing a fictitious e-mail address, "sweetsavings@zoominternet.net."

However, Farthing subsequently subpoenaed eBay records that revealed "hundreds of other transactions" were occurring from the Schwartz-owned accounts using different user identities. Farthing was able to trace the account to the Schwartzes' Scottdale address, and he notified Bard and Taylor.

"A total of 10 accounts was found to be selling the same coupons, and was also using the same Paypal account. When investigators looked further into the registration pages supplied by eBay, it was discovered that the accounts all appeared to come from one location, and that the other identities were actually fictitious," the arrest affidavit said.

Police said they also interviewed Giant Eagle personnel locally concerning the coupons and were informed that store security also had experienced problems with "the exact same coupons" because they were determined to be counterfeit.

During an interview with Joanna Schwartz last month, she told investigators that she traded, sold, purchased and used coupons for pay and valuables.

"(Schwartz) related she would occasionally write letters to various manufacturers that would lead the manufacturer to issue coupons to her that she could use to procure free or nearly free merchandise. She related that she would sometimes copy via computer scanner/printer these coupons and trade "files" via eBay. She related that she would receive monies for the files or she would then use the files at one of the many grocery stores for merchandise," Trooper Taylor wrote in the arrest affidavit.

She said her husband also was involved in the coupon transactions.

Schwartz told police that in recent months she had quit trading and selling the files after the Coupon Information Corp. had sent her notice that informed her that selling and trading some of the files was not legal and that some "files in fact were counterfeit."

Despite the arrests, Martin said police are continuing the investigation.

According to police reports, when the Schwartzes would forward electronic coupon files to purchasers, they supplied instructions to open and print along with an e-mail statement. Police reports said the statement read, "Do not buy them if you are having doubts, and out of fairness, do not ask for a refund or exchange because the store you go to decides they are not going to accept them. Go to another store or a different cashier."

Miller said that the "homemade" coupon counterfeiting on home computers is a relatively new, but growing, consumer problem.

Although police did not specify how much Phillips paid for her coupons, Miller said similar sales can run anywhere "from $4, $5 or $10 for compact discs they can print over and over."

"I personally bought an electronic file for an investigation once containing 60 coupons for $20," Miller said. "The problem is: because of the counterfeiting, stores stop accepting home-printed coupons. The single best thing a consumer can do is not purchase coupons, especially over the Internet, because there is no way to verify whether they are real or not."

Miller noted that "it's a shame so many nice, but naive, people" are being duped in the scams.

"Why purchase something that's given away for free? Another recommendation is don't be duped into buying into business opportunities that involve the sale of coupons," Miller said.

Martin noted that the majority of coupons have warnings printed on them that they are nontransferable.

"That means they can't be sold to anyone. We're still working on this case," she added.

The Schwartzes declined comment. They were arraigned and released on personal recognizance bond. A preliminary hearing will be scheduled before King.

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