BALTIMORE (Legal Newsline) - Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler has filed a lawsuit against a Las Vegas company for its deceptive mail solicitations that claim recipients were eligible to receive cash prizes.

Gansler's Consumer Protection Division has charged National Awards Service Advisory LLC, also known as Prize Information Bureau and State of Maryland Commissioners of Registration, as well as owner Geovanni Sorino, with unfair and deceptive trade practices.

The company's mail solicitations represented to consumers that they were eligible to receive cash prizes as high as $3.4 million, Gansler said.

"It is tempting to believe promises of big winnings that appear to come from an official agency," Gansler said.

"But consumers should be wary of these kinds of sweepstakes and never pay money in order to receive a prize."

Prize Information Bureau, Gansler alleged, sent Maryland consumers mass mailing that promised large cash prizes. To claim their prizes, consumers paid fees, which usually amounted to $20, and instead of then receiving a cash payment, consumers were sent lists of sweepstakes and prize offerings informing them that they could separately enter to win prizes, Gansler said.

Gansler is seeking an order to require the company and its owner to cease sending deceptive prize offers to Maryland consumers, return any fees collected and pay penalties and costs.