April 11, 2012

Coupons sold online treated as fakes

Purchasers run risk of prosecution under counterfeiting laws

By Jill Cataldo CTW

  - In last week's column, we discussed why it's never a good idea to purchase coupons online. The terms on many state that they are void if sold, so manufacturers may refuse to reimburse a store that accepts a sold coupon. But there's another reason: Coupons purchased online are considered counterfeit.

Websites and auction sites sell coupons clipped from the newspaper and even printouts of Internet coupons, but the number of free-product coupons available online is surprisingly large. Even if these coupons were genuine, they'd be void. In fact, most of them are counterfeit.

The Coupon Information Corporation, an industry watchdog group, is a not-for-profit association composed of consumer product manufacturers that fight coupon fraud. The group maintains a list of fraudulent and counterfeit coupons at its website: www.couponinformationcenter.com.

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