Jacqueline Rice says her friends refer to her as the coupon queen. So she was shocked when she printed out this coupon for a free 12 pack of coke and found out from a clerk it was a fake.
“She asked me did I generate it myself and where did it come from, and I told her I got it off the internet and she told me it was one of those that was fake and she had had a couple of them and she had to keep it," said Rice.
Computer Repair Technitian Brian Hamilton says some online coupon sites can even leave you stuck with a virus.
"I did have an instance where a customer came in with some scareware and i did end up tracing it back to a program that was downloaded by a program that was downloaded by a program that originated from a coupon tool bar," said Hamilton.
And according to Frito-Lay, scammers are now going one step further, sending coupons like this one for free Doritos via email in attachments.
"By this new distribution it's become incredibly viral and extremely challenging to stop," said Frito-Lay Spokeswoman Aurora Gonzalez.
It's not just coupon users who get fooled. Frito-lay says that even retailers don't always know it's a fake, so when a customer goes to buy one of these Frito Lays and the retailer gets stuck with the bill.
So how do you know it's a fake?
-The company says make sure the coupon has 2 UPC codes.
-Refers to specific ounce weights for the product
-Gives the right address for the company
And the biggest sign...
"A lot of the free ones are the ones you want to avoid," said Rice.
If a coupon doesn’t' require consumers to purchase anything... It may be a sign that it's a coupon caper.
To reach Computer Repair Technitian Brian Hamilton call: 864-285-0881
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