Online Couponing In a Day For Dummies by Beth Montgomery

Author:Beth Montgomery
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Published: 2012-07-03T04:00:00+00:00

Photo Credit: Coupon Information Corporation

Figure 3-3: High-value fraudulent coupon.

Most coupons expire within six weeks or less.

Does it look legitimate? Legal, legitimate coupons have similar characteristics. (See the section, “Identifying a Standard Coupon,” earlier in this chapter.) Stores don’t have to accept a coupon that’s missing one of these standard parts.

However, fraudulent coupon makers are crafty, so the real coupon makers have been adding extras to make it harder for counterfeiters to make their own or alter a legitimate coupon.

Look for these items to confirm a coupon’s legitimacy:

• Copy detection or anticopy technology: Using special paper that’s shiny or when copied produces a completely black page, stops counterfeiters from producing multiple copies of legitimate coupons.

• Product image: If the product image is blurry, or if the coupon has no product image at all, that might be a clue that the coupon isn’t legitimate. Manufacturers use sharp, high-quality images of their products in coupons and advertising.

• Watermark: Logos, images, or text that show behind information on a coupon is known as a watermark and often doesn’t copy well, deterring counterfeiters from copying or editing these coupons.

• Nonstandard text: Manufacturers are creatures of habit. They get comfortable with certain wording on their coupons, so unfamiliar phrases can be as sign a coupon is fraudulent.

• Pattern text behind the expiration date: Shiny paper or decorate patterns behind expiration dates, stop counterfeiters from extending or altering the expiration date.

• Encrypted, unique serial number: Many coupons now have a unique number, to deter copying. You’ll never find multiple coupons with the same unique number, often found on the border of the coupon.

• Unique coupon print-time stamp: You may find the date and time the coupon was printed around the border of the coupon. Since it takes a minute for a coupon to print, finding a lot of coupons with the same print-time is a warning sign.

And keep your eyes peeled for these signs of fraudulent coupons:

• Changes in font size, type, or weight

• Blurry photos, images, bar codes, or text

• Misspellings or date errors

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Sometimes you can make a coupon fraudulent without even realizing you’ve done so. Even things that seem innocent can make a coupon invalid — and some can even be illegal. These tips should help you stay on the right side of the law:

Don’t get artistic. Your coupon is beautiful the way it is. There’s no need to alter it or change it in any way — doing so, in fact, can make the coupon fraudulent. Skip Photoshop and just print it.

Don’t be a copycat. I know it can be a pain when there’s a really great coupon and it disappears after you print it twice, but don’t stick the printed coupon in your copier or scanner and start making more copies. That’s illegal.

Read. Read. Read. Read the coupon. All of it. Even the fine print. Then use the coupon as it’s intended. It’s what the coupon says that counts, not whether the cashier will take it or not.

Yes, you can get caught

A man in Pennsylvania printed coupons and made copies back in March 2010, thinking he’d never get caught.

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