Video of Phoenix counterfeit coupon bust press conference
Submitted by Coupon Maven on Tue, 07/10/2012 - 6:04pm
KPHO Phoenix CBS 5 has posted video of the full press conference detailing today's counterfeit coupon bust in Phoenix. Representatives from Procter & Gamble, Hershey, Pepsi, and Bar-S were present when the arrests were made, and their statements were read at the press conference.
Interesting tidbits from the video:
- Over $25 million worth of counterfeit coupons were seized today.
- Over $2 million in assets owned by the counterfeiters were seized, including 22 weapons, a 40-foot speedboat, four homes, and 21 vehicles, including luxury cars and an RV with an estimated value of $400,000.
- The counterfeiters have 12 bank accounts. The investigators have been looking at just one account today, and that single account has taken in over $2 million in revenue this year alone (that's in just six months.)
- Bar-S absorbed $250,000 worth of losses between the time they identified that there was a counterfeit version of their (legitimate) $5 off any product coupon and when the offer was pulled. When a member of the media asked, "Does it make you reluctant to offer coupons again," the Bar-S representative answered "Yes. Yes it does."
- The FBI is now taking over the case.
- The counterfeiters' shipping records dating back to 2007 were seized, and customers of the site can expect to be contacted by authorities.
- One member of the press asked, "If this has been an issue, why weren't consumers alerted before?" Investigators replied, "We've been alerting consumers [about the dangers of purchasing counterfeit coupons] for years."
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counterfits
i wish we could hear the questions that were ask.
Bud Miller said something being in place and automatic but couldn't hear the question so can't tell what it refered to.
GS1
I agree, the questions are so hard to hear. What was being asked was about the GS1 barcode - with the new barcode, they will be able to automatically "shut off" a counterfeit from working at the register once it's identified. It will be shut off to all stores' registers.
Right now, any coupon with the "old" bar code is kind of a liability in this regard, as they can't really do that with the way it's constructed and read.
GS1 vs Standard UPC
I thought manufacturers were able to pull the "old" codes? It amazes me what people will do. Hopefully others will see who are doing this and stop. I am about half way through the press conference and very interesting, thanks for posting.
Old UPC
The old code is really limited in what it can do - it looks for the presence of the product family, and it has a discount built in - that's about it. No expiration date, and not much really unique to THAT particular product -- this is why some people would try to "beat the system" and use a coupon for one product on another in the same family.
If a coupon only has the GS1 bar code on it (and a lot of them do now) it's easier for them to turn that bar code off when a fraudulent coupon is discovered. Part of the trouble too though is that these people were duplicating LEGIT coupons. So, the bar code often scanned fine.
Crazy
Thanks for the information. I did see in the slide show at least one legit coupon I recognized that I received in the mail (Land O Lakes free offer). That makes more sense that they were actual coupons that they were reproducing. Wow... I am just amazed at what people will do. If all that effort went into something positive vs. the negative, what a positive impact it could be.