In light of all the recent discussions on fraudulent coupon use, I wanted to share with you Budget Savvy Diva’s post on how to spot a fraudulent coupon. I, like most bloggers, try hard to know exactly were a coupon comes from before we post. However, it can get tricky with all the technology available today. People do make fake coupons, so we all must be extra vigilant to only use coupons that are legitimate. If the coupon seems too good to be true, it probably is…
Check out MORE Fake Coupon Alerts HERE
How to Make Sure You Are NOT USING A FAKE COUPON
– The coupon is a pdf: PDFs are VERY easy to manipulate — this is another red flag. Again not all PDF coupons are fake but still be wary.
– The coupon has no expiration date: Fake coupon can be spotted sometimes without having an expiration date – makes sense the person who made the fake coupon wants to use it as long as possible. THERE are companies that forget or do not put a expiration coupon – but you usually get these sort of coupons from the company themselves.
– The coupon did not have a UPC code – HUGE RED FLAG – If there is no UPC it cannot be traced
– Coupon is a Brick Coupon: This one is tricky… A brick coupon is a coupon that is the only one you can print. There are many legitimate brick coupons out there – this is a yellowish flag – just use the tools I have written about in this post to help you determine it is a fake coupon or not
Here is an example for YOU – Lets see if you are able to see how this coupon below is fake
The real coupon was changed into a fake coupon by someone who wanted free products – this is what usually happens with fake coupons.
– Know where you are getting the information: Budget Savvy Diva is a great resource -I spent over 10 hours each day finding the best deals and coupons for you – I make sure that all the coupons I post are legitimate 🙂 There are a large amount of bloggers who do not put the amount of work in and you could be paying the price.
– The deal is too good to be true: If there is a coupon for a free product for very high value coupon like $3.00 off a bag of chips this is a huge red flag.
– The expiration date: Remember the better the coupon ( High value coupons or coupons that have no size limit) have a shorter time it is good for. So if a printable coupon has more then 6 months till its expiration date – RED FLAG
– The coupon is a pdf: PDFs are VERY easy to manipulate — this is another red flag. Again not all PDF coupons are fake but still be wary.
– The coupon has no expiration date: Fake coupon can be spotted sometimes without having an expiration date – makes sense the person who made the fake coupon wants to use it as long as possible. THERE are companies that forget or do not put a expiration coupon – but you usually get these sort of coupons from the company themselves.
– The coupon did not have a UPC code – HUGE RED FLAG – If there is no UPC it cannot be traced
– Coupon is a Brick Coupon: This one is tricky… A brick coupon is a coupon that is the only one you can print. There are many legitimate brick coupons out there – this is a yellowish flag – just use the tools I have written about in this post to help you determine it is a fake coupon or not
Here is an example for YOU – Lets see if you are able to see how this coupon below is fake
The real coupon was changed into a fake coupon by someone who wanted free products – this is what usually happens with fake coupons.
Thank you for the useful tips. I like to use coupons, but don’t ever print any from the Internet because I’m always scared they could be fraudulant.
You just need to know the source of the coupon. Printing from 1 of the reputable sites such as coupons.com or from a manufactures site is okay