You know, there are rules on this - at least DOT rules above and beyond any normal fraud/deceptive marketing laws. See, for example, this recent letter of guidance: http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/rules/20030904.doc

I'm not too familiar with the actual rules (there's a citation in the above link), but my impression is that they (1) have prevented some of the most outrageous fraud, such as making the airline denote that the fares are one way based on round trip; and (2) are the reason why we see some goofy stuff, like that odd breakdown of fares, taxes and fees ('air fare=$133.86, us tax=$12.14, fees=$12') when you get to the purchase screen; but (3) haven't really stopped the stuff that drives most of us nuts.

I agree that it's probably not fraud in this case - but if you think so, you should see if you can get the DOT's Aviation Consumer Protection Division to take it up.