A Northwestern Pennsylvania couple is being charged with attempting to swindle a Coaldale woman out of more than $85,000 in a Publishers Clearing House Scam.

Coaldale Police say the woman, whose age was not given, received a phone call Aug. 26 saying she won the sweepstakes and prizes included a check worth $10.8 million and two Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

She was told to send three checks. The largest check was for $85,000 payable to Catherine Loveless and the two checks for $885 were written to Joseph Loveless and Joseph Loveleff.

All three checks were sent to an address in Turtlepoint, Mc­Kean County.

They went to the Mauch Chunk Trust Bank in Jim Thorpe to cash the larger check. The daughter of the woman was called to verify the check, which she didn’t do.

Bank officials have police photos of the couple. Identification was provided of Catherine Loveless. PennDOT verified her license. A photo of Joseph Loveless was cross-checked against his license and matched.

Both are charged with theft with unlawful taking, theft by deception and criminal use of a communications facility. Police filed charges Jan. 25.

They were scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning.

Preliminary hearings are scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Feb. 22 in Magisterial District Judge Stephen Bayer’s office, Tamaqua.