BEWARE! Counterfeit Coupons

Several of our readers have emailed us counterfeit coupons this week. It seems they are being passed along through email a lot lately.  How can you identify a coupon as couterfiet? Here are some suggestions:

• Always be suspectful of those that are emailed to you.  Most coupns are connected directly to a manufacturer's website or come directly from the manufacturer. 
• FREE - remember that companies still want to sell their products.  Aside from samples, most manufacturers aren't giving their stuff away.
• Multiples - if there are multiple copies of the coupon the page, it's probably handmade and isn't legit.
• Look at the coupon. If it looks fuzzy or different colored backgrounds on areas of it, that can be an indicator that someone copied and pasted parts of another coupon to "build" the fake one.
• Most (but not all) coupons on the internet are numbered so the clearning house and manufacturer can keep up with how many have been printed. If you don't see this kind of bar code or numbering, be cautious.
• http://www.cents-off.com/ This is a website devoted to counterfeit coupon education. When in doubt, you can check their library.
• Too good to be true?  This is the best rule of thumb...it probably is!

We all have a responsibility to stop the circulation of counterfeit coupons.  Even though it may be tempting to "just try it and see if it goes through..." Please remember that many counterfeit coupons will scan on a register.  Trying it out is not the way to determine if it is counterfeit.  Use the resources above and email us if you are still in question about it. Also remember that coupons distributed on products, in newspapers or flyers can not be copied and distributed in other forms.  You don't want to compromise your testimony and integrity for a coupon.  We all have been in a position of something we said or did being misunderstood and taken out of context.  That's unfair and destroys trust.  We want to build the relationship between consumers, stores and manufacturers...never to tear it down.  Thank you in advance for your commitment to being coupon users of honesty, trust and integrity. We appreicate you dearly!!!