Counterfeit Coupons

There are a lot of counterfeit PDF file coupons for free items floating around the internet.  At first glance the coupons seem legitimate, but you know that a manufacturer is not going to give out unlimited copies of coupons for free items.  A lot of times counterfeits can be scanned at the store, because the people making the coupons know how to duplicate a legitimate bar code.  This is what I have learned in the last year of couponing about PDF file coupons:

• Never use PDF file coupons for free items.  100% off them are fraudulent and stores will not accept them.    Go here to view current fraudulent coupons under investigation.
• Don't even use PDF file coupons from a manufacturer's website.  While these coupons are put out by the manufacturer, there is no limit to the number of prints and the company will usually retract those coupons and not honor them.  An example of this is a Quaker pdf file coupon for $1 off oatmeal that was posted on quaker.com back in January during a big Quaker sale.  People were printing them off like crazy to get free oatmeal.  The second day of the sale, the stores quit taking the coupon because Quaker pulled it from their website and denied the existence of the coupon.  Quaker said that they would not reimburse the stores for the coupon.
• Make sure there is a watermark on the coupon.  All of the major companies, like Smart Source, Bricks, Coupons.com, and Red Plum, have watermarks on their coupons and/or other ways of insuring coupons are legitimate.  If there is not a watermark, then the store will most likely not take it.
• A lot of the time, counterfeit coupons will scan just like normal coupons.  Just because the coupon will scan does not mean that it is legitimate.  Just like counterfeit money can be passed off as real money, counterfeit coupons can be passed off as real coupons. 
• Using or making counterfeit coupons is illegal.  It is the consumer's responsibility to make sure the coupons you are using are legitimate, not the store's responsibility.  It is not really worth breaking the law just to save a few dollars.
• Using fake coupons costs the stores money.  They do not get reimbursed for fraudulent coupons. 

Internet Printable coupons are a great way to save money, because they are free.  Just do your homework on your printable coupons and only trust reliable sites for printing them.