In order to avoid committing coupon fraud (yes, this is real), you should be aware of how to coupon ethically. If you don’t know how, then you could very well commit this act and be sentenced to as much as 17 years in prison and a fee that’s in the millions. Hardly worth it for a few discounts, don’t you think? That’s why we’d like to bring the following information to your attention.
Keeping Yourself Safe
- Do not make your own coupons or buy coupons from someone who has made their own. If the coupons you’ve purchased look altered in any way, do not use them! Check the expiration dates to make sure they are realistic and that the bar code on the coupon is neatly printed with no fuzziness.
- Do not try to use coupons for items that the coupon wasn’t made for.
- Do not scan and copy your coupons so that you can use them multiple times. This is a serious offense, and in some ways similar to robbing a store (after all, you are cheating them out of money in the process).
- Do not try to use a coupon if it has expired. There’s no reason to really, especially when there are so many coupons out there. Stores are constantly looking for ways to bring more customers in, so they manufacture coupons as one method of this. They also like to reward loyal customers, so if you visit one particular store frequently, sign up for their rewards program (if they have one – most do). One thing worth noting is that some stores allow customers to use expired coupons up to 30 days after the expiration date. Check the store’s coupon policy before you try to do this though!
