Here’s another update on counterfeit coupons. Remember the story about the free AMP coupon being counterfeited? Well, Pepsico has taken the real coupon out of circulation. This was so widely counterfeited that NONE of the free Amp coupons will be honored. Retailers that accept these coupons will not be reimbursed.
Gee, thanks, CHEATERS!!!!
If you have a real free Amp coupon issued by Pepsi, and not printed from a counterfeit pdf on the internet, contact Pepsi at 1-800-433-2652 for a substitute.
People who are counterfeiting these coupons are subject to criminal prosecution or civil action. This is serious, folks.
If you follow deals, you know that it has been possible to take advantage of real coupons and real sales at Kroger and other stores – and use in-store promotions to get a truckload of these for free or cheap. But that involves actual planning. Much easier to just fake it. And now the people who have the legitimate coupon cannot use it because of this widespread theft.
There are other notable counterfeit coupons in circulation. Nivea, Efferdent, and Duracell have all been hit. There is a $2500 reward for information which leads to an arrest for the Nivea and Efferdent counterfeits. By the way, THERE ARE NO FREE DURACELL COUPONS IN CIRCULATION AT THIS TIME.
Pampers withdrew their Free Pampers Jumbo Pack coupon in May, 2009, but counterfeits continued to show up for sale on the internet with altered expirations. Less than 16000 of these were issued – but 36000 have been redeemed. Guess what folks – when you see a coupon for a free item for sale on ebay, especially in large multiple amounts – it’s usually a fake. At any rate, manufacturers do not issue coupons for you to sell, they want to give you their product.
Pampers makes great deals available to you through their “Gifts to Grow” offer on their website. I don’t see any free jumbo coupons on there at the moment, but you can get a $10 diapers.com gift certificate for 100 points, a free Dreft product for 125 points, or a $25 Options gift card from Gap for 260 points. It’s no wonder they are not offering coupons for free diapers – look at what happened with the fraud. Now legitimate customers cannot get these great offers. It is theft all around.
If you are asked to pay for any coupon you download on the internet, or for any printable coupon, it is a fraud. You should never have to pay to print.
Often, counterfeit coupons have a grainy appearance. Manufacturers usually have a higher quality resolution, as their coupons are professionally produced by real advertising graphics people. Bar codes are always present on manufacturer coupons. If you receive a free item coupon without a bar code, it is probably fraud, unless you received it direct from the manufacturer or the store.
Counterfeits make the problem of cashiers and some stores not accepting ANY internet coupons much worse. Rather than see what the legitimate coupon is, they just choose to not accept them, even though in this economy coupon use is at a record high. And of course, slickly produced fraud coupons that don’t appear to be printed by a home computer escape detections when cashiers and managers are not trained to detect them, or informed about the latest counterfeits.
Counterfeit coupons hurt the retailer, the manufacturer, and the legitimate consumer. Don’t buy free coupons on the internet, and be vigilant about your trades.