“She just printed a coupon, used it, and went to jail!” That's exactly what can happened to unsuspecting couponers that don't verify their online coupons. Let me tell you a cautionary tale about a lady who had a brush with coupon fraud. “As a hard working single mom, I try to cut corners wherever I can. I save my pennies, use discount store products, and buy store brands. I worked hard at my retail job, it was keeping us afloat. It wasn't a great job, but I never complained because it paid the bills. when I saw an ad for a coupon clipping site I got really excited, and started saving a lot of money using them. I wasn't super selective with the items that I had coupons for. If I needed soap and had a coupon that would save me money on it, I bought that brand. About six months ago, I downloaded some coupons from a site that I had signed up for. I downloaded several coupons and trotted off to one of my favorite stores. Thankfully I had dropped off my two year old twins with my mom before I went out shopping. I went through the store checking the coupons against the products and making sure they matched up. When I got to the checkout, I got a surprised look from the new cashier, for the number of coupons that I had. After she went through the coupons, she asked me to wait for the managers approval on a couple coupons. When the manager arrived and looked at them, he asked me where I got them. I told him that I had printed them from the internet site. In my frustration and embarrassment, I couldn't recall the name of the particular site. I was freaking out! I was threatened with jail time and fines if I didn't cooperate. I informed the investigators that I had every intention of cooperating. They weren't being total jerks, but I live in a small town. This is good and bad at the same time. The manager and the investigators are somewhat familiar with who I am and unfortunately, they also know my boss. My job, the one that WAS paying my bills, went away. After my boss found out about the incident, I was asked to “Find new work, due to the situation.” I was mortified. Though, I hated having to leave, I knew it was probably for the best. I just keep thinking about what might have happened if I had gone to jail for couponing. I am sure that couponing is generally safe, but I will never use coupons from site that I don't trust and I always keep a record.” Though I cannot verify whether the story is true or fictitious, I Have read that coupon fraud is a multi-million dollar a year scam. Just be sure to check your coupon sources and verify that they are legit.
That's a terrifying story. A lot of people have gotten in trouble for coupon fraud, but I don't think actual jail time will happen unless it's something that you regularly participate in or if it can be proven that you knowingly did it. It's important to be careful about printing coupons from shady sites or buying "Free" coupons online. I prefer to get mine through the newspaper; then, I know they're legit.
Too bad. There a lot of sites offering fake copupons only to get visitors. Also blackhatters offering suposed codes with CPA offers, most are fake too.
That really sucks. How would someone know that their coupons are legit besides ones offered by big retailers? I was interested in using coupons but now this makes me more cautious. What about someone who is an "extreme coupon-er" do they get investigated too?
If the lady signed up for a site that offered phony coupons, she could easily check her e-mail, dig out her old e-mails, find any email she'd received from the webmasters of the website and save herself of all the trouble of having to pretend she'd just had a bout of amnesia. While coupon fraud does happen, this particular story rings false but at least it serves the purpose for which it is intended - - be careful where you get your coupons from!
Let this be a warning to everyone that is using coupons, even though I don't think we must be responsible for using something available online. What is illegal about using coupons? Were they fake copies of something probably?
