Fake Coupons: How to Spot Them

Before you head out to your favorite spot to eat this weekend, you may want to check with the restaurant first if you plan on using a coupon. Places like TGI Fridays say the Internet has made it easier to pass along fake coupons.

It may be hard to spot them. So we enlisted Sandy Lloyd to give us some suggestions if you are turning to on-line clipping. The mother of two saves more than $400 a month and only spends about thirty minutes planning her shopping trips. "That makes me feel wonderful because I can use that money for other things. People are just tired of paying $3.00 for a can soup, it's a little ridiculous."

But she says beware if you are looking to save money on the Internet because there are plenty of fake coupons in cyberspace. The blogger says real coupons have a gray strip with a holographic print, a band with serial numbers and you will have to download a coupon printer. She does not suggest buying Internet coupons on auction sites.
"You don't really know if they've been copied. Because if they've been copied, when the cashier goes to scan it, they will not scan in."

If you do try to use a fake coupon it won't scan at the register and the company will not honor it.

Here are Lloyd's money saving tips:

- Use a free website like www.couponmom.com to alert you on what items you can get free

- Make sure the coupons come from the newspaper or the direct source that manufacturers coupons like SmartSource

- If the item is buy one get one free you can use two coupons

- If you are in the store for more than 30 minutes, you are spending too much time and too much money

For more money saving tips visit her website http://frugalsandfreebies.blogspot.com/