“This case clearly demonstrates the dangers of purchasing coupons on the Internet, whether it is from independent websites, e-mail or from online auctions. Coupon buyers expose themselves to the possibility of becoming involved with counterfeits, stolen property or other criminal activities. They may also expose themselves to additional risk by providing their names, home addresses and financial information to organized crime rings.” – Bud Miller, Coupon Information Center.
- SavvyShopperSite.com: Three people arrested this morning in Phoenix
- Sold free-product counterfeit coupons on SavvyShopperSite.com and Ebay
- Four homes and 21 vehicles seized during the raid
Over the past few months, word’s been getting around about SavvyShopperSite.com. The site sells free-product coupons in any quantity you wish to buy, with a few caveats — you must spend at least $50 on coupons at a time, you must pay for your order with a Green Dot Moneypak (prepaid debit card,) and to place an order, you need a referral from a current customer. Their site also advises, “please do not share this information with people that you don’t actually know. This includes forums and any public viewing areas or websites.”
Why would a legitimate business have so many restrictions on how to buy from them? While some websites rave about the savings they’re getting with Savvy Shopper Site coupons, other blogs began outing the site as selling counterfeits.
Some shoppers burned by the site went to the media. Here’s a New Orleans WBRZ news report about a woman who filled her fridge and pantry with items purchased with Savvy Shopper Site’s free-product coupons, later to be told they were counterfeit:
The Daily Journal of Missouri also featured a reader’s story of purchasing counterfeit coupons from SavvyShopperSite:
An Arkansas customer found the website, www.savvyshoppersite.com, and took advantage of the offers. For example, she paid for nearly a dozen coupons for Hershey bars and used a few among others when she shopped.
Then, the store received bad news: The coupons “bounced” because they were all fake… That means that the customer, who had thought she was getting valid coupons, is stuck with coupons that are no good after paying for them.
Some of the coupons currently offered on the site are tempting to buy. For $16, you can buy a coupon to get up to 40 pounds of Eukanuba dog food for free, up to a maximum of $55. For $12, you can buy a Huggies Big Pack up to $24, for free. Four dollars will net you a coupon for free beef jerky or chicken product.
SavvyShopperSite.com and Ebay
Most seasoned couponers know to avoid purchasing coupons on Ebay — coupon fraud on Ebay is sadly rampant. Yet there are many sellers offering too-good-to-be-true, high-value product coupons on the site each day. Where are they getting them?
Apparently, many of them have been getting the coupons from SavvyShopperSite. Savvy Shopper actively courts resellers on their site, providing a path for these counterfeits to end up in front of many more potential shoppers. With the issue of counterfeit coupons being raised in the media as of late (hundreds of counterfeit coupons have been featured on TLC’s “Extreme Couponing”) coupon shoppers, including myself, have been looking into where these coupons are coming from.
One of my readers wrote to an Ebay seller to let him know that the Bar-S meat coupons he was selling were counterfeit. He replied, “thanks for telling me know. all my coupons was purchase as a bulk with other seller and i resell them for $ , thanks.”
Other sellers are even more open about where their coupons are coming from. This seller sent shoppers to SavvyShopperSite for more coupons right in the feedback of his or her own auctions.
Today’s Arrests
This morning, the Phoenix Police Department arrested three women in conjunction with an organized criminal enterprise that sold counterfeit coupons. I spoke briefly with Bud Miller, Executive Director of the Coupon Information Center this afternoon. Bud stated, “Initial contact was made by a SWAT team removing the front door of a residence by force. The CIC and some of its members were on location in a mobile command unit watching the bust. Numerous weapons were found on the premises, and there were millions of dollars, if not tens of millions of dollars, worth of counterfeits inside. Numerous computer records have been taken and identified, including the list of customers who have purchased counterfeit coupons from them. These customers should expect contact in the future.”
The CIC’s press release has additional information as well. I want to thank the readers who have sent information about SavvyShopperSite.com to me over the past few months. This story is still breaking, and I will continue to cover it as more information is released.
VJB says
I was wondering when something like this was going to happen. I am so glad that when I started couponing I found ethical coupon blogs and was shown the right way to coupon. Hopefully this will lead to more consequences for those that USE fraudulant coupons knowingly. If people weren’t willing to take the chance on these coupons with “unkown” origins then the sellers would not be in business. For all other shoppers and ethical couponers, we have had to pay for it with the increased prices, restrictions, stricter store policies, and decrease in coupon values. I hope there is more to come for those that cheat the system and are no better than counterfeiters and shoplifters.
dovebar says
I hope people learn not to buy coupons online at all. I have read other sites that say some coupon clip sites are legit but how do you know? I know one site that looks legit BeyondBOGO.com but there is a hidden page with all the free coupons and alot of it looks like the same coupons this site is selling. YOu have to have that link to get those. Now what can happen to the people who bought the coupons can they be arrested too? So tired of reading all these “how do I do extreme couponing” sites and everyone says just go buy free coupons on line. That is how they all do it.
cmsvmom says
Heres the thing about some coupons on these sites being legit – if they are, they will not be for long. Im the one who told Jill about a seller on ebay I confronted about the Bar-s coupon who said they buy in bulk and sell for $. That coupon was issued by a company that is not the size of P&G or Coca Cola, and it was easily duplicated. Im sure that SOME of the coupons those folks had at one time were legit – but with a good duplication, how would you know?
The whole premise of selling coupons is wrong. I sympathize with folks who do not get good inserts and feel they have no choice, but really, are you verifying where the services get their inserts? Do you REALLY believe you are paying just for the time and trouble and sourcing? If so, why do higher value coupons cost more?
Before scanners, people did a lot more rebates, and counterfeited the cash register tapes and sold them through bulletins and at coupon conventions (talking early 90s here. been doing this a while) Some people grabbed pads of forms, and fraudulently submitted complete deals to clearinghouses in huge quantities, by making their house an “apartment”, and sending multiples. Those people caused a crackdown on refunds, and this is why you rarely see a rebate now that can be submitted without a store identified cash register receipt. I predict that manufacturers will be issuing more coupons online, in print, and will be taking precautions against counterfeiting. The result will be that smaller companies will have to devote a larger percentage of their advertising budget to free coupons, which will cause them to be limited.
We are seeing coupons.com advertised on TV, and more printables, more catalinas than ever before. I think this is the way of the future for couponing, not newspaper inserts. There will be no point to selling printables. And unfortunately, it wont be possible for folks like me to get the best coupons from several dozen inserts from buying them, friends, recycling, etc.
Coupon fraud costs us all a bundle, because it forces manufacturers to change the way they do business and the way they spend their advertising dollars.
I want the whole thing shut down on Ebay and I want to see more of these folks in jail, including users who “oh my didnt know”. When you coupon on the level of folks who buy free item coupons, you know they are fake. You just dont want to so you pretend.
fodacima621 says
If savvyshoppers site is the main source of all fake coupons on ebay that sellers buy from, we will see in the next few days if the number of fake free coupons start to dwindle. But if in the next 2 or 3 weeks, there is no difference in the volume of fake frees being sold on ebay, it simply means there are other big fishes that need to be caught.