Shady coupon practices

The fake coupons looked surprisingly legitimate. Allegedly, the women were having them printed overseas for sale online.

What does this mean to consumers? For starters, the chance of being arrested for fraud.

If you've ever bought coupons online, some or all might have been counterfeit. Or maybe some were stolen by those folks who swipe ad inserts from newspapers.

More to the point: It is illegal to buy or sell coupons, according to the Coupon Information Corp., a group representing manufacturers that issue coupons. (Post continues after video.)

Avoiding the fakes

Phoenix resident Melissa Hurst has been teaching coupon classes as part of the Savings Nation program, sponsored by the Savings.com deal site. Ever since the coupon bust, she's been hearing from former students who want to know how they can avoid counterfeits.

In a recent post on her blog, Saving Cents With Sense, Hurst posted some warning signs of counterfeits: 

• The coupons are extremely high-value -- $3 off, $4 off -- or for free products. (Generally speaking, free-product coupons come directly from manufacturers.)
• Faulty fine print. Most coupons specifically state that they may not be bought or sold, but counterfeits often omit this statement.
• Long expiration dates. Counterfeits often appear to be good for a year or more.

Hurst also linked to a long list of confirmed counterfeit coupons. If you've ever bought coupons online, you might want to check that list -- as noted above, those who use counterfeits are subject to arrest.

Nervous yet?

"Follow the rules and you won't have to worry," Hurst says. "If you're getting a coupon from your newspaper or printing it from a well-known site, you can be pretty sure it's legitimate. But if you're buying a coupon, how do you know it's not fake?"

Would you think it's OK to grab a handful of dollars from a store's cash register? Using a counterfeit coupon is stealing, too, either from a retailer (which might not be reimbursed for fakes) or a manufacturer (if it unwittingly pays out).

Some consumers don't see it that way, according to Chicago Tribune columnist Greg Karp. They're too focused on getting products cheaply or free.

"But that can create overzealous shoppers who develop an us-against-them mentality," Karp writes, making it easier to rationalize fraud.

Ethics aside, theirs is a very small-picture outlook. The more money retailers and manufacturers lose, the more prices will continue to rise -- and that affects everyone, including coupon users.

Besides, is getting $3 off a bag of chips worth the risk of arrest? Hiring an attorney would probably negate a lifetime of buy-one-get-one savings.

To recap: It is illegal to buy coupons. Don't do it. If you've already done it, at the very least check your stash against that counterfeit list. Better still, shred them and start fresh with the coupon inserts in next Sunday's newspaper. That is, if some coupon thief hasn't gotten there first.

More on MSN Money:

• 5 new loyalty perks for shoppers
• 'Extreme Couponing' misses the point
• When a store's deal isn't a good deal
• Retailers' math: Confusing on purpose?
• Confessions of a coupon contrarian