They're getting smarter and charging $300.00 to $350.00 to make their ads appear more kosher. $240.00 was a dead giveaway.
Seems to me that the rip-off artists are starting to get greedy. Probably encouraged by success in their teaser rates of $160-220, they are upping prices, bypassing the newbie bottom-fishers that are their bread & butter.
This might start to backfire on them in unsuspected ways. It is one thing to charge $200 +/-, where the unsuspecting/unwary traveler probably just writes it off to experience, while kicking themselves in the rear (the typical tourist is unlikely to make a fuss). Its another thing to charge $300 & up - you're starting to get into serious money. The target clientele is more sophisticated and expects something for their money (less likely to meekly accept their fate; and legitimate interests might see a need to start protecting themselves from also being tarred as rip-offs).
Other commonalities in rip-off ads seem to be: Many are more mature providers, Pictures don't reveal any 'nudity', Ad text is generic, saying nothing explicit, and Pics are stolen (no tin-eye 'hits' doesn't mean they aren't lifted from somewhere else - found Caroline's stolen pics from sometime ago with 'Bing' search.
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