A tag team of scam artists who residents said were posing as teenagers raising money for youth trips and charitable causes have been snagged by Seacoast police.

Authorities arrested two people, a man and a woman, who had been soliciting charitable donations in neighborhoods, saying they were affiliated with a company known as Prestige Sales USA, which is based in Arizona.

Michael Moorefield, 25, of Tucson, Ariz., was arrested Wednesday, Aug. 27, in Rye and charged with solicitation without a permit, a violation of a town ordinance. The same day, Greenland police arrested Denise Goodhue, 26, of Vanleer, Tenn., charging her with possession of a controlled substance for a small amount of marijuana she had with her. Police said they had stopped her and two male companions before they could begin working in a local neighborhood.

Bedford police have confirmed that Moorefield is also suspected of running a possible scam here. Residents claimed a woman had been involved in the scam as well, but officials have not said if there is any connection between Goodhue and Bedford.

Moorefield has been released on $500 personal recognizance bail and faces arraignment in Portsmouth District Court on Sept. 15. Goodhue, also out on personal recognizance, is due in the district court on Oct. 20.

Bedford resident Carol Brecht of Meadow Road was relieved to hear of the arrests. During a visit from Moorefield, she and her husband had given more than $200 to Prestige Sales USA, the company that was supposedly handling the donations.

“I’m ecstatic,” Brecht said. “I’m so thrilled. I’m so happy that no one else will be scammed by these two.”

In Rye, however, Moorefield had succeeded in obtaining several checks to Prestige Sales USA from residents of the Ocean Boulevard area. Officials from Greenland and Rye said the company does not have a good reputation.

“The Rye Police Department has learned this is not a reputable company by the Arizona Better Business Bureau and are asking residents to call if they were or are approached in the future by subjects attempting to collect donations,” the department said in a press release.

Bedford police are still investigating the incidents, saying it is still “undetermined” if Moorefield was a “legitimate solicitor.”

Police are asking anyone with information on the case to call the department at 472-5113 or Bedford Crime Line at 472- 8999.

Police are urging residents to use common sense when approached by door-to-door salesmen or other solicitors and be on the alert for signs of suspicious activity in their neighborhoods.

“As always, the Bedford Police Department would like to remind residents to use good common sense when dealing with door to door sales people, charity groups and solicitors,” police said. “Be cautious of the organizations that they provide money without first confirming that they are a legitimate charity or organization.”

Brecht and Nancy Taylor, a friend who lives nearby on McQuade Brook Road, described in vivid detail strikingly similar accounts of their encounter with Moorefield.

In both cases, the man, who identified himself only as “Michael,” asked for donations to Prestige Sales USA to pay for books at a children’s hospital and an AAU baseball team trip to Hawaii.

Taylor said the man had an elaborate story that ultimately made little sense. “There were so many different things that were red flags,” she said.

She became suspicious, she added, when the man told her he lived in “Moore’s Purchase,” the official name for the subdivision that encompasses Colonel Daniels Drive, Federation Road and Colleny Drive. People who live in the area, however, do not use that name, said Taylor. When she pressed him, he said he lived at number 34 on a street off Colonel Daniels Drive, but neither of the other two roads has that address, according to town assessment records.

He told Brecht he lived at 134 Colonel Daniels Drive, another nonexistent address.

In both cases, the man claimed a close relative walked her dog in front of their homes every day. He also told both women they looked too young to have children as old as they did, ironically a sure sign, Taylor said he was older than his given age of 17 years.

Moorefield made the comment to Taylor after her 12-year-old daughter came to the door.

“He looked at me and said, ‘That’s your daughter?’” Taylor recalled. “He said, ‘You don’t look old enough to have a daughter that old,’ kind of in a smarmy way. No 17-year-old would talk to an adult that way.”

Taylor said her brief conversation with the man turned sour when her boyfriend, a former police officer, came to the door and asked to see a driver’s license or other ID.

“That’s when he said, ‘I don’t carry my license around with me all the time’ and started to get very agitated that we were asking all these questions and not just handing over a check,” Taylor said.

After a series of questions the man left and Taylor called the Police Department, which said it would send a cruiser to the area right away. But about an hour later, the man showed up on Meadow Road.

Brecht said she and her husband, Craig, did not ask to see any ID. Instead, they cut him a check between $200 and $300.

“The biggest thing that got you, you thought you were helping a neighbor,” Brecht said.

But after he left, the couple had second thoughts. While her husband went out looking for 134 Colonel Daniels Drive, Brecht said she went online to research “Prestige Sales USA,” becoming convinced that it was a scam.

When he returned, “I looked at him and said, ‘There is no 134 Colonel Daniels?’ and he said ‘No,’” Brecht recalled. “I said, ‘You need to call the bank right away. We’ve been scammed.’”