Here’s how the Coupon scams work:

Coupon Certificate Booklet Scams
A promoter sells an investor a business opportunity selling coupon certificate booklets. The investor is supposed to sell the booklets to consumers for $20 to $50 each. The booklets contain 20 to 50 certificates, each of which can be redeemed for $10 worth of grocery coupons. That makes each booklet "worth" between $200 and $500 in coupons. To redeem the certificates for coupons, the consumer must complete and mail a form, select 30 to 50 products from a list and include a self-addressed, stamped envelope and a processing fee.

In theory, the investor should make big profits selling the booklets to consumers. And consumers should save big money by using the coupons when they buy the groceries. In reality, though, the promoter is the only one who makes money.

Investors who spend several hundred to several thousand dollars to buy the certificate booklet distributorship lose money because inflated earnings claims never pan out. Consumers who pay out substantial processing fees and postage for coupons lose money because they can clip coupons for themselves from their newspaper. To redeem $500 worth of certificates, for example, a consumer might pay postage and processing fees of over $100. And everyone loses on false claims that coupons have no expiration date: Only a tiny share of coupons issued by manufacturers have no expiration date.

Coupon Clipping Scams
A related scam centers on coupon clipping. Promoters make overblown promises about the income or profit potential for consumers working at home clipping coupons. These claims certainly sound appealing, but they are unsubstantiated at best and bold lies at worst. Making money—particularly "hundreds per week" and "thousands per month"—isn’t that easy. Success generally requires hard work.

Sometimes, fraudulent promoters use coupons clipped by consumers to fill orders from other consumers who redeem the coupon certificates. Many manufacturers have policies that do not allow coupons to be transferred. That is, the coupons that are being sold may not be redeemed by the retailer or manufacturer.

Coupon Scheme Clues
You can avoid losing your money to a bogus work-at-home coupon opportunity. Listen for these tell-tale tactics:

• Guarantees of big profits, high income or amazing savings in a short time.

• Claims that no risk is involved.

• Lots of pressure to act now.

• Claims that this is a hot, "can’t miss" opportunity.