Major Counterfeit Couponing Ring Shut Down! How to Protect Yourself from Counterfeit Coupons

I hate when awful stories like this show up of people scamming business and other couponers with fake coupons because it makes all legitimate couponers look bad.  Here’s a few things you can do to protect yourself.

#1 If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.   The problem here is that great coupons like this DO exist.  When I went to BlogHer last year, I probably collected hundreds of dollars worth coupons just like these from manufacturers and wouldn’t have been shocked at all to see them end up in someone’s Ebay store.  But you never can tell if they are legitimate or not so you are better off not buying them at all.  Stick with what you get from your local paper or print from your own computer.

#2  If you must buy coupons, buy whole inserts.  Whole inserts are almost never counterfeited.  I’ve used Insert Insanity before with good results.

#3 CYA.  If you’ve bought coupons from places like this and haven’t used them yet, just throw them away.  I know it will feel like throwing away money but don’t take the chance.  The article makes it clear that you are liable if caught.  Free hot dogs ain’t worth jail or fines.

A few other thoughts

#1  Actions have consequences.  It’s never been legal to buy coupons but the way people have gotten around that in the past is to say the coupons themselves are free, you are just paying S&H.  I bet that comes to an end.

#2  More Extreme Couponing Fallout?  There have been SEVERAL episodes of EC where it has been proven that the ECers were using fake coupons.  It won’t surprise me at all if we learn that those EC episodes sparked this investigation and provided the impetus to shut down this ring.

#3  Kudos to the CIC.  Usually, what comes out of the CIC is decidedly anti-couponers.  The head of it seems obsessed with limiting coupon use and making life generally more difficult for couponers but this time he did good.  In fact, I would encourage him to focus ALL of his attention on cleaning up counterfeit coupons and leaving the vast majority of legal coupon users alone.

:follow: