Beware You Don’t Get Clipped By Coupons %page

Beware You Don’t Get Clipped By Coupons

Posted by Sophie Egge on July 14, 2011 Leave a comment (0) Go to comments

Using counterfeit coupons could cost you If there’s a loophole in the system the scammers will spot it from outer space, zoom in, reorganize it to suit there own nefarious gains and take off, leaving you and I to face the music.

Times are tough – beware scammers As more cash-strapped consumers turn to the Internet for print-to-save offers, hackers have taken notice, creating a virtual explosion of online coupon scams. It’s a strange game. In most cases, the people who create the counterfeits don’t profit from them. The goal just seems to be to gain “street cred” in the hacker community by creating something that turns up all over the country.

Be vigilant Counterfeit coupons can hurt you and you need to be vigilant trying to pinch pennies online. Clicking on links promising an online coupon, especially when the links are distributed via e-mail or posted at online message forums, can infect your computer with malware that provides hackers with your files, passwords and online bank account numbers.

Guaranteed to get you One way you can almost guarantee you’ll be burned is to enter an online auction for a batch of coupons. Chances are good that they’ll be counterfeit and never be delivered, even if you “win” the auction. But if you do succeed in downloading counterfeit coupons and printing them out, your problems may just be beginning.

Realistic Hackers try to make each coupon so realistic that it’ll scan at the cash register just like a real one. But often the fake gets flagged by registers or alert employees. What happens then? Your coupon is refused, or you might be banned from the store. “People have been arrested for redeeming counterfeit coupons,” says Bud Miller of the Coupon Information Corporation, a watchdog group that represents most U.S. food, beauty and other product manufacturers that issue coupons. Law enforcement agencies also go after the coupons’ creators.

Social issue Even if you don’t get caught, there’s a social issue to consider. Your redemption of a fake coupon raises the store’s costs of doing business and the total can add up to millions of dollars. These costs get passed along to customers in the form of higher prices. “And because this problem is so widespread,” says Miller, “some retailers are now refusing any online print-at-home coupons, which hurt all shoppers.”

If it’s free… “There are no legitimate offers for free products without any purchase, which can be printed from a home computer” says Miller. Authentic online freebies require you to sign up, and the manufacturer then mails the coupon to you. But real buy-one, get-one free coupons and those promising a percentage or specific amount off can be printed online.

Legitimate coupons Legitimate coupons always list an expiry date, and typically a specific product size. This info is often absent in fakes.

Real print-and-use savings For real print-and-use savings, stick to offers at manufacturers’ websites or reputable coupon sites such as www.coupons.com, www.coolsavings.com and www.couponmom.com. Unless you have previously enrolled at a website to get coupon offers, don’t click on any e-mailed offers you receive.