Coupon Crime

[JimShaw]

I found a long article in today's newspaper regarding Coupon Crime and pulled a section of it and thought it should be posted.

This is something I did not know and have done myself especially with the Target $5.00 Off Blu coupon. That was a great coupon but I won't do that again.

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“never, never make photocopies of coupons you printed out from the Internet. This is coupon fraud. Each printable contains identifiers (typically a serial number) that make that individual coupon unique. When you photocopy a printable coupon, you're making an identical copy—and when your store redeems two or more coupons with the same serial number on them, guess what happens? The store is only reimbursed for one of the coupons. It's essentially a small form of stealing from the store.

Photocopying printable coupons is also not without its consequences. When multiples of the same printable coupons are submitted for redemption and several show up with the same serial number, that information can be sent back to the site that originally hosted the coupon. It's very easy for that site to track down both the IP and hardware address of the computer that originally printed it. With that information, that site typically permanently revokes that coupon-printing privileges for that computer. If flagrant abuse has occurred, legal prosecution can follow.

For this reason, it's also not a good idea to trade printable coupons with people you do not know well. If they decide to make photocopies of coupons you give them, guess who stands to pay the price? You.”