Update 10/15/08 : New counterfeit coupons are added : Counterfeit coupons thread

1. Question: I wanted to know why CIC does not expound upon the reasons why particular coupons are labeled as counterfeit when the originals and copies posted on CIC's website ARE identical. Please cite 2 or more specific examples. Sometime it's very difficult to distinguish between real and counterfeit coupons.

This questioner is correct in that it is often very difficult to distinguish between real and counterfeit coupons. Frankly, if it was easy, cashiers would be able to tell the difference with a minimum of effort and we would not have to be involved with this issue at all. Indeed, there have been several examples when the graphics of the real coupons and the counterfeits ARE identical. Unless there is a desire to alter the value or the expiration date, a perfect copy may be the counterfeiter’s goal, as with counterfeit money.

When there are differences, and there often are, we generally do not publically publish the specific differences between the counterfeit and real coupons because we don’t want to create an instruction manual for the counterfeiters to improve their “art”.

The two most frequent examples of differences between real and counterfeit coupons are:

#1 A traditional coupon from a Free Standing Insert (FSI), also known as the Sunday Coupons, or a consumer response coupon, which are printed on specific types of paper, is reproduced on a different type of paper using home/office equipment. Some counterfeiters have gone so far as to print their fakes on photo grade or heavy stock in an effort to evade detection. Regardless of their efforts, virtually all attempts to counterfeit these types of coupons using home/office equipment are easily detected in the coupon redemption process.

#2 The expiration date of the counterfeit will be different from the original coupon. For example, an August 31, 2007 expiration date will be changed to August 31, 2009.



2. Question: What exactly makes the Juicy Juice coupon a counterfeit?

The image of the original Juicy Juice coupon was altered and posted on multiple locations across the Internet, including this Board, without the permission of the rights holder, in this case Nestle USA.

Regardless of any alterations, individuals who post the images-including exact duplicates- of coupons on the Internet without the permission of the rights holders do so at their own risk. Board Owners and administrators who allow the publication of such images are also at risk of both criminal and civil prosecution.

Just as with currency, even perfect copies are counterfeit if they are not issued by the Government; coupons that are not issued or authorized by the pertinent manufacturer are counterfeit.



3. Question: Please list all the possible reasons that will cause the CIC to label a coupon as counterfeit.

CIC does not have a role in determining which coupons are legitimate or counterfeit. It is up to the manufacturer or their coupon processing agent. CIC will issue a Public Service Announcement (PSA) only when a coupon issuing manufacturer identifies a counterfeit coupon and sends a written request to the CIC.

Some factors that have assisted some manufacturers in identifying counterfeits have included, but are not limited to: more coupons being redeemed than were actually printed; invalid/nonscanning bar codes; variations of the expiration dates, values, or other printed items on the counterfeits; duplicate security codes; elimination of security features; print quality; and paper variations.



4. Question: How many cash rewards has the CIC paid out? Also, how many successful prosecutions has the CIC been an integral part of?

The cash rewards program is a new effort that began early this year; as such no case has reached the point of a reward. It is unlikely that we will pay any rewards until next year. (Counterfeiting cases, like any other economic crime case, can be lengthy processes.)

The CIC has assisted with every major coupon fraud case (not just counterfeits) since CIC began operations in May 1986. The dollar amounts involved in individual cases have ranged from a few thousand dollars to as much as an alleged $250 million. Currently, the record for the lengthiest jail term in a coupon fraud case is ten years in prison. We hope to break that record in the near future. More than 500 individuals have been successfully prosecuted in cases the CIC has supported. The larger organized crime cases include:

• Detroit - $87 Million
• MacDonald/Jebara - $50+ Million
• Florida - $44 Million
• Philadelphia - $70 Million

A partial listing of individuals convicted for coupon fraud related activities in cases supported by the CIC follows:

Bassam Mohammad Abed; Fred Abouna; Sam Abouna; Barakat Mousa Abedelal; Jose Acosta-Gomez; Norton S.Adler; Morris Adler; John S.Alfano; Joseph Alfano; Joseph Allen; Linda Allen; Steven Alter; Connie Santos Arvidson; Yousef Kalil Baste; Arthur Behm; Alan Berger; Barry T. Bergeron; Francisco Betancourt; Lazaro Betancourt; Pedro Betancourt; Ellen Biles; Robert J. Bittola; Joel Steven Blazeman; Barry J. Block; Kenneth Block; Sol Block; Ronald O. Bradley; Walter E. Brewer; Jules Brooks; Sharon B. Cardillo; Teresa Ann Carrero; Ramon Castro; Larry Coggins; David Cohen; Jacob Cohen; Leonard Cohen; Scott M.Corley; Anthony R. Crea; Lutfi Daoud; Francine Davis; Roberta Berger Davison; Michael Detomaso; Francis Devuono; Irving Diamond; Albert Dorf; Carl Nicholas Duchin; Sylvia H. Duchin; John Dudzinski; Fred Edelstein; Mohammad M. Elayyan; Donald J. "Elder, Jr."; Avrom Even-Hen; Paul Finkelstein; Michael Flanagan; Angel Jacob Flores; James F.Fontenelle; Debbie Arlene; S. Fox; Oscar Freezman; Harold Friedland; Joseph G. Funari; Thomas P. Gill; Frank Giunta; Donald B. Glinert; Martin Godfrey; Donald Goetz; Joel Goldberg; Norton Goldberg; Irving R. Goldberg; Hillard Goldman; Martin Goldman; Richard Granoff; Frederick Barry Gross; Linda Gross; Jeff Gubernick; Marvin Gubernick; Sanford B. Guth; Kenneth Haber; Maher S. Hamden; Munzer Hamideh; Ira H. Hanin; Joseph G. Harm; Mohamad Hassan Hassan; Donald Hellinger; Charles Hellinger; Rodrigo Javier Hernandez; Hal Holtzin; Jay Holtzin; Leonard Holtzin; Brian Honel; James E. Hovel; Jordan J. Isaacson; Charles D. Jaanus; Edna M. Joyce; Robert J. Joyce; Dorthea Joyce; Robert A."Joyce, Jr."; Najat Judeh; Stephen Karsch; Ibrahim Yousef Kashkeesh; Carol A. Kelly; Lois Kassewitz Kerr; Omar Y. Khaled; Samuel W.Kline; Louis Konell; Carmen Santiago Krasnick; Lawrence L. Krasnick; Howard William Kreitman; Gerald Larusso; Fred G."Latham, Jr."; Robert Michael Laughlin; Daniel J. Lawall; Jum Yea Lee; Alan Levy; Brian Litvin; Be Van Ly; Jack Malkin; Rochelle Green Malkin; Lawrence Mann; Sheldon Solis Manusoff; Frank A. Marincola; Linda Platt Markman; Dolores Mastrangelo; Thomas N. Mastrangelo; Zuhdi Amin Matariyeh; James J."McCaffrey,III"; Robert McDonald; Joseph B.McFarland; Alfred Thomas Medici; Harry Medici; John C."Merion, Jr."; Gary Meyer; Berger Michael Jay; Stuart Miller; Jack Millman; Lance Mirkin; Ali Ihmoud Mizyed; Jerry W. Morgan; Malcolm Morgan; Frank Murray; Jaser M. Nassar; Azzam Exxat Nazzal; Wendy Newman; Diane Odom; Abbas Shiben Okab; Abed E. Okab; Nizar A. Omar; James Phillip Onnebane; Richard Oscar; "Morton ""Ozzie";"Ostroff; Corrine Isaacson Palefsky; Robert Pavlin; Jack L. Persky; Warren L. Peters; David George Rackmill; Edward Richman; Bonnie Romano; Jules Rose; Thomas W. Rose; Alan Rosenstein; Stephen P. Rosenstein; Gary Rosenthal; Edrian B. Rubin; Faisal I. Salama; Azmy Ibrahim Salama; Joseph Santiago; Brad Savel; Lloyd Robert Savel; Sheila Savel; Veronica Ann Scallan; Stephen Michael Schwartz; Eugene Schwartz; Jeffrey A. Scott; Cheri G. Scott; Floyd Sembrot; Victor Sharapan; Elliott Sharapan; Barbara Ann Sharrow; Jamal Shawar; Thamin Shawar; Stephanie Shotsky; Earl Shprintz; Karen Yvette Siegel; Andres Solar; Gerald Stein; Alfred Stelweck; Irvin Stelweck; Barry Stern; John Stokes; Neil Straussman; Matthew A. Suba; Naim Mohammad Sughayar; Naim Sughayer; Judith Sullivan; Albert Surden; Steve Swenson; Joseph T. Swierczynski; Glen Alan; Sylvan Wiktoria Szczepaniak; Mohammad Mustafa Thalib; Stephen E. Thompson; Myron F. Topper; Donald J. Trentz; Marilyn Trinkowsky; Carl R. Vaughn; Waymond C. Watkins; Charles Louis Wattik; Alan Wecker; Alex L."Wiest, Jr."; Joseph A. Wilburn; Jack Malcolm Willis; Mary Lou Wilson; Florence Winokur; William Winokur; John G. Woods; Jan C. Zimmerman; Ali Ziyad


The following are links to two New Jersey cases in which we provided assistance:
http://www.nj.gov/oag/newsrelease...0302d.html
http://www.state.nj.us/lps/dcj/re...id0309.htm



5. Question: And what exactly is the total amount of rewards paid out by CIC since its inception? Can CIC actually offer a reward, since they do not actually pay the reward, and have no control over whether it is ever paid or not? Under what circumstances would any court order any defendant to pay restitution to CIC? (one or two examples would suffice) What loss could CIC claim it has suffered which might entitle it to any award of restitution? What is the contractual arrangement between CIC and its manufacturer clients whereby an award of restitution paid to the manufacturer for any loss it suffered from redemptions of counterfeit coupons would be paid to CIC, creating the fund from which a reward could be paid by CIC to anyone supplying the information solicited so actively by CIC?

For ease of reading, we’ll answer each of the above questions separately.


And what exactly is the total amount of rewards paid out by CIC since its inception?

See above response to Question #4.


Can CIC actually offer a reward, since they do not actually pay the reward, and have no control over whether it is ever paid or not?

The questioner’s assumptions are incorrect. Yes, CIC can offer and pay these rewards.


Under what circumstances would any court order any defendant to pay restitution to CIC? (one or two examples would suffice)

That depends upon the specifics of the case. The most common situation is where CIC has assisted the prosecution and the prosecutors and/or the court believe it would be easiest for the CIC to administer the distribution of restitution.


What loss could CIC claim it has suffered which might entitle it to any award of restitution?

Actually, CIC as an entity almost never suffers any direct losses in coupon fraud cases. CIC’s Members are the direct victims in most coupon fraud cases. As such, CIC has frequently received funds from successfully prosecuted cases in order to reduce the administrative burden on the courts and the industry.

If a counterfeiter ever successfully reproduces the CIC Anti-Counterfeiting Security Device, the CIC, as an organization, will be a direct victim of the criminal enterprise and will clearly have standing to take appropriate action.



What is the contractual arrangement between CIC and its manufacturer clients whereby an award of restitution paid to the manufacturer for any loss it suffered from redemptions of counterfeit coupons would be paid to CIC, creating the fund from which a reward could be paid by CIC to anyone supplying the information solicited so actively by CIC?

Sufficient arrangements have been made between the CIC and its Members so that if restitution is paid to the manufacturer for any loss it suffered from redemptions of counterfeit coupons, the manufacturer will fund the rewards that will be paid by the CIC to individuals meeting the terms and conditions of the reward offer.

The astute observer will notice that from time to time the CIC issues Public Service Announcements without a reward offer. We do this as a professional courtesy for nonmember manufacturers (with their written authorization). However, as they are not CIC Members, we are not authorized to offer reward monies on their behalf.



6. Question: I have a question - since the manufacturers issue coupons with bar codes, and provide the information to stores for them to program their registers to recognize the bar code, and associate it with (and limit its use for) a specific product, size, amount off, then why can't the manufacturer send out information so the stores can reprogram their registers to cease recognizing specific barcodes as valid?

That’s a good question/suggestion. The number one challenge to this potential solution is that some counterfeits have identical bar codes to the original coupons and, thus, can’t be put on an automatic no pay lest the valid coupons be rejected as well.

However, we recently opened discussions with a major industry participant to determine if it is technically feasible to have the new bar code system automatically provide some form of warning to cashiers that a counterfeit is being circulated for a specific bar code. Hopefully the cashiers will be able to take a closer look to determine the legitimacy of the coupon.



7. Question : The $2 Neutrogena looks like the one that came out of the K-mart Beauty Book a few months ago. Did someone modify that one?

Yes.



8. Question: My question then for the CIC is that obviously some of these coupons you are posting as "counterfeit" are only "counterfeit" because someone copied an original, right? So if that is the case, why can't that be stated in the posting instead of leading people to believe that they cannot use their VALID manufacturer coupons.

This would provide too much information to the counterfeiters. By definition counterfeiters do their best to copy originals as closely as possible. For example, a counterfeiter of $7.00 bills would be unlikely to be successful in the long term. In situations where valid coupons and counterfeit coupons are substantially identical, a consumer’s best assurance that their coupon is valid is knowing where and how they got the coupon (i.e., clipped from a FSI, received directly from the manufacturer, etc.). If the source was authorized, the consumer will have nothing to worry about.

Most coupons in circulation are legitimate and people with valid manufacturer coupons can use them. Coupon issuers only rarely retract or invalidate their offers in the face of counterfeits. The most prominent examples of this are the recent withdrawal of a Target coupon and a Starbucks coupon. Some companies, such as Subway, have actually terminated entire promotional programs due to counterfeiting.

It is in everyone’s best interest, especially the coupon trading community, to work together in the fight against these counterfeits.