ALERT: $2/2 Johnson & Johnson Counterfeit Coupon
First off, I am literally sick to my stomach. Just a little bit ago, I received an email from an awesome reader, Kristen, who alerted me to the fact that the $2/2 Johnson & Johnson coupon pictured above is counterfeit. This coupon actually had bricks.com in the URL and appeared to me to be 100% legitimate; and as a result, I have referenced the coupon on Hip2Save several times in the past few weeks and have printed it myself. The Coupon Information Corporation (CIC) just added this coupon to its list of counterfeit coupons as of yesterday, April 15th.
Now that you are likely sick to your stomach as well, you are probably wondering what you should do if you already unintentionally used this coupon at a store and/or have this coupon in your possession?! First and foremost, you want to immediately destroy any of these coupons that you may have. If you used the coupons to purchase items that are still in un-opened packages, I highly encourage you to take the items back to your store and return them immediately. (Please note that I mean that you should return the items and only be reimbursed for the purchase price minus the coupon amount so in some cases you may not be reimbursed at all if the item was free after the coupon). Stores that accepted these coupons will NOT be reimbursed by the manufacturer so by returning the items that you purchased with this coupon, you are preventing the store from losing money. If you have already opened/used the items purchased with this coupon, I am honestly not sure what to advise you to do; however, I would encourage you to contact your local store manager and ask him/her what is recommended in this situation.
From the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry. I spend countless hours researching deals and evaluating coupons to ensure that all deals on Hip2Save are 100% legitimate. I value all of your trust and am still in shock that this was a fake coupon.
Please feel free to share your thoughts below….
Whew!! Thanks for letting us know!
I just printed tonight and planned on using tomorrow and will rip up immediately. Thanks for letting me know. Not your fault.
Linda
I work at a store and we are absolutely not suppose to hand key a coupon if it does not scan if it is printed on the internet. If it is one out of like a Sunday coupon ad then we can hand key it. I know other stores have the same policy when it comes to internet coupons if they will not scan. Also once you use a coupon unless it can be found they cannot fix it. our coupons are sent out to somewhere and returning the product will not negate the coupon. I myself have not seen this coupon but if I do I will inform the customer that it is counterfit but if it doesnt scan we cant take it anyways. We have had many in the past that have been counterfit and were alerted by the companies about them.
They are talking about it over at another site and the reason it was declared fraudulent was because it has been photocopied too many times and is still being used. I hope this is the reason.
https://www.weusecoupons.com/upload/wuc-news/143477-regarding-2-2-listerine-coupon.html
Exactly… color me skeptical. I can’t think of ANY way someone would counterfeit an original printable Bricks, because they have to work out deals with Coupons.com to post. My guess before even reading the comment above was that some doofus made PDFs out of it and was passing it around.
When the CIC puts out notices, they don’t distinguish if there was an original “good” coupon that someone copied. Remember when they put up a big COUNTERFEIT notice on the $1.00/1 Skippy peanut butter that came out of the Safeway football booklet? The original, obviously not counterfeit, but some idiot had copied it and was passing it around online. From their posted version, there was no way to tell that the original was good. It seems likely that this is what happened here, so if you printed out a good coupon it would have a different dotscan code in the upper right than the posted one people are making copies of.
It does negate it in a way – the product being returned
No because the customer gets cash back now on the item that they paid for with the coupon. The store isn’t returning the coupon to the customer. The only way it would negate the coupon if you were able to return it to the store for what you paid for it out of pocket.
Agreed!
Thats what would happen. When you return and item that you bought with a coupon you do not get the money back from the coupon. you would only get what you paid for it oop . So yes this would fix it. (ex: item was $5 minus $2 coupon so you paid $3 oop. When you return you are only going to get the $3 back not the full $5)
That’s what I was thinking returning the item does not negate the item – the store is out of the money either way. By returning the items, the store is paying the consumer for the product back that they got for “free” with the coupon – so it is a moneymaker for the customer now and the store still loses. 🙁
Return the item – no cash back given, negates the coupon.
I’m pretty sure I used mine on Stayfree products at RiteAid earlier this week. I just looked and I have 4 $1 off Stayfree coupons. Should I take these coupons into the manager at RiteAid in order to “make up” for the loss?
Shoot this really troubles me bc when I use IPs, a LOT of them don’t scan. They hand key at least half of my IPs. I didn’t think anything of it before, but now I’m wondering if maybe it’s ME and my printer is crappy or something?? Does anyone else have this problem? I don’t want them all thinking I’m conterfeiting coupons!!
I use a lot of IPs too and many don’t scan…it’s not you
I use a lot of IPs too and many don’t scan…it’s not you
Destroying mine tonight as I had planned to use them at cvs tomorrow. Yikes. Thank you Colin for keeping us posted. You rock!
Between the video post you put up this week , extreme couponing and now this I’m seriously feeling hesitant when it comes to this whole couponing business. I also feel like I’m being watched every time I walk into a store that I’ve used coupons in before. SMH!
I used 2 of these at Walgreens and can’t remember which location (we have 3 stores in my area). We have opened the band aid boxes and filled our First Aid kit with them. I wonder if they would be against taking the $4 cash along with the CIC printout.
I’m just curious though – since it sounds like many people used the coupons to get “free” items – if you return the item to the store – they will give you back cash on the item. So Target/CVS/Walmart is the one losing money now and not Johnson & Johnson. So either way, either the retailer or the manufacturer is losing here. 🙁
Return the item – no cash back expected
Collin you actually are causing an extra loss to the store if you return the item. This is because when you return an item that you used a coupon on you get back the entire amount so say the item is $3 and you have a $2 coupon they still give you back $3 not just $1.
The majority of the time coupons are non refundable. If you return something, they will not give you the coupon’s value back. You forfeit the coupon. Most coupons will say that in the fine print.
I’ve never had a store not give me the full amount, including coupon value, back when I’ve returned something.
Thanks for the update. In my mind I keep wondering now that some one has figured out how to make a counterfeit bricks coupon, how many more are there out there or will be soon? For me this is really a SCARY thought for the coupon world.
How weird that it actually printed from bricks.com and each one printed had a different number under the bar code at the top, just like the ones from bricks normally do. Did it legitimately print from bricks, but they weren’t aware it was counterfeit when they linked to it, or is it a hijacked link? Don’t these people have something better to do with their time than create fake coupons?
Seriously. Who needs to coupon that bad as to be fraudulent?!
The same people that invent internet viruses
Ohh noo, thank goodness you cought this and alerted us . I don’t think I used mine beause at wags it wouldn’t scan and the cashier did not accept it. I remember being a little frustrated but Felt the sale was so great for friends and family that i just stuck it back in my purse and said “no biggy”. i will double check and make sure i still have. Also thankfully I chose to print the $2 off aveeno from recycle bank that you posted, for target clearance, so in turn YOU STOPPED ME FROM USEING THEM, i thought i saw guarenteed beeper so i chose to switch them out to the recyclebank. Don’t feel bad, i’m sure a lot of us chose the $2 aveeno versus the $2/2 BEEPER, hahaha. Have a great week 🙂
Thank you so much for telling us!! I found this in my binder. I will tear this up right away! Again thank you so much! Also I was reading the small print and there is an spelling error on this that says: We will pay for the face balue of this coupon. I guess from now on I should read the small print for little clues to if it is a fake or not.
Thanks for pointing out the misspelling Megan…I hadn’t noticed it. Paper shredder, here they come! And thank you Collin for keeping us informed!!!
the one that is not legit is the one in the picture of the notice. the dot code is different from the ones anyone else should have. this is what happens when people copy ip’s illegally…you ruin it for everyone else
Wait, I’m confused…does that mean some were legit and some werent?
I don’t think so. I think they’re all counterfeit. The only difference between the one on CIC and the one I have at home is the upper bar code, which is always different on each coupon printed. All the rest of the numbers were the same.
I just took the coupon to http://www.veri-fi.com and entered the VeriFi code. It says the coupon is VALID!!! Now, I’m not questioning the validity – I saw the .pdf from J&J threatening to take away my firstborn if I even look at the coupon in a friendly way. (Second link in Colin’s post, btw.)
But how does a counterfeiter get a coupon into the Bricks system? The real tragedy here is that it came from Bricks – and Bricks still says it’s VALID! This coupon – right here – is why more and more retailers won’t accept Internet coupons.
Colin, this isn’t your fault at all. The fault here lies not only with the counterfeiter, but also with a coupon system that allows fraudulent coupons to slip through. WHY ISN’T BRICKS VERIFYING COUPONS BEFORE POSTING THEM?!?!
I tried the same thing, apparently (this is just what i’ve read on the interwebs) it started out as a legitimate coupon, then was copied so much they classified it as counterfeit to end all usage.
It’s not your fault and I appreciate all you do for us couponers!
Wow! I had 2 of these coupons all ready to go for tomorrows CVS Listerine $1 sale!! Glad I found out before then!!
Thanks for keeping us honest! What a shame that people create coupons that eventually cause stores and manufacturers to crack down. I would love to see the person who created this fake punished for his/her crime.
Collin, I have frequently found coupons listed on the CIC that look like bricks printables. I think the bricks link we all printed the coupon from is perfectly legitimate, but what is most likely happening is that someone has modified or copied this particular coupon and been redeeming it, so the CIC is on watch for it being used fraudulently.
I really don’t think there is any need to rush back to your store to return things if you printed from the legit link, only if you used a copied version, which we all know not to do. I think we need a little more research before we start freaking out 🙂
I used two of these at Target. When the cashier tried to scan the first one, it actually added $2 to the bill. The cashier caught it and took off the two coupons manually. How are you guys taking the stuff back? I feel like I should take the stuff back, but I don’t think I still have the receipt. I only bought them because of the coupons. Just imagine what these hackers could do if they put their energy towards good instead of stupid stunts like this. By the way Collin, don’t feel bad. You couldn’t have known. The coupons fooled us all. You may want to privately email some of the other blogging sites that reference you. I know I saw this coupon on a couple other sites, but I can’t remember which ones. Pretty sure they both said, thanks Hip2Save or Thanks Collin at the bottom of the post.
OMG!!! I used 4 of these coupons this evening at CVS. Was wondering why it kept beeping and thought about it afterwards. I’ve never, ever intentionally used a counterfeit coupon before and to my knowledge this is the first time I ever used one. WOW! i feel horrible!! I’m going to go back to CVS tomorrow and let them know and give them a copy of this coupn so they can alert all their cashiers.
Wow- that is really sad, Collin. Thank you for alerting us as soon as you found out about this, and we don’t blame you at all for thinking this was a legitimate coupon. It’s unfortunate that people are out there creating counterfeit coupons. Aren’t there better things to do with your time? A lot better things!
I was planning to use this coupon at CVS tomorrow. Thank goodness I checked this site one more time before I went to bed tonigh!
wow people stop at nothing but how was it possiable to counterfit a brinks i am totally sadden buy the idiots out there that make it hard for us honest savers pretty soon store will just stop taking ip all together
So I just went to veri-fi.com and it also says the coupon is valid? So how on earth was anyone supposed to know this wasn’t valid? Or do we think it WAS valid when it was printed and is now being copied or something?
ah, very good question
Well, I just went to http://www.veri-fi.com and entered the code from the coupon pictured above (the fake one) and it said VALID! So either the veri-fi website isn’t updated yet, or the coupon really is legit.
That’s what I’ve been seeing on other sites. The original coupon was valid but people are copying it…so they pulled the coupon and declared it a fraud so it would stop all use. Maybe the coupon that people are seeing is still valid, really IS still valid – their own coupon – it’s just the ones that have been copied that are frauds. I dunno.
I can’t help but wonder how a counterfeit coupon got into coupons.com’s system, and furthermore, why exactly is it still there?!
Wow. Don’t blame yourself, Collin. There was no way to know. You do an amazing job.
I never did use this coupon, but I have a friend that used it at Target and it actually added $2 to her bill and she didn’t realize it until after we already left. I remember a lot of people were complaining about this one not scanning correctly.
Don’t feel too bad, Collin. You do your best to encourage honest couponing with this site. Unfortunately there are bad people out there. It happens. The mix of products seemed odd to me on this one anyway, I never printed it.
I think what I would do is just go tell the store you had a fake coupon and just pay them the amount of the coupon. It’s a $2 off coupon so just pay them $2 and keep your item.
I’m about afraid to use internet coupons now. I don’t understand why people would go to the trouble to make these fake coupons.
Just a note for those who plan to return their items. I have returned items that I used coupons for in the past and they have given me the full retail value of the product even when I pointed out that I used a coupon. They told me they don’t care because the manufacturer will still reimburse them for it. So just make sure that they only give you what you paid or the store will be shorted.
Kind of a side note, but you’re completely right, the same thing has happened to me at Target. I’m glad I’m not the only one. I felt like a crazy person telling the Customer Service girl that she needed to give me less money back, but she insisted the computer was right. I’ve never had to fight to get less money back, but I knew the computer wasn’t right. I didn’t pay full price, so why should I get full price back for a return?
Because, in the case of a legit coupon, the store WILL still get that $ back from the manufacturer. When you give a store a legit coupon, it is the same as giving them a check for that amount – only the money comes out of the manufacturer’s pocket, rather than your own checking account. They just haven’t figured out how to give that money back to the manufacturer, instead of the customer.
Colin, thank you for alerting us, we do appreciate all your hard work. I know you feel pretty bad about it, but please do not, it was not your fault.
Thank you for the amount of times you do get it 100% right! Criminals will always find a way to beat the system and want to make a quick buck of someone else’s back, that unfortunately is the world we live in.
So do not worry and keep doing what you love to do in helping people to save money. We love you girlfriend!
God Bless, Miriam
Thanks, Collin. I just visited the CIC site and was amazed at the number of counterfeit coupons they have listed. It’s truly unfortunate that there are people in this world who are always looking for a way to steal from others. I don’t want you to think for a moment that you have somehow let us down in any way. It’s obvious to me that you work really hard to provide a wonderful service, and your spirit of integrity and character is very apparent. I look forward to visiting your site everyday. Thanks!!!
LadyFunknstein,
Can you please tell me that website you use to find out about counterfeit coupons? I want to make sure about all my coupons now!
It’s the website that Collin’s link in the post goes to.
Colin has the link to the CIC website above on this post 🙂 HTH!
I am wondering why the one i have (never used) came up as valid through veri-fi.com wouldn’t be listed as fraudulent? How are we supposed to know what is legit? I am glad i didn’t use this one (too many options on the list so i hadn’t used it yet…)! Thanks for the heads up on this one and all the hard work Collin.
wondering the same thing. however when i then entered the bar code from the counterfeit coupon on the cic site, it also showed as valid. what gives?
I just want to applaud you ladies that used the coupon and are returning the items! Even if we, as couponers, are technically in the wrong, I could see a lot of people ignoring this post. That is why I love Collin! She encourages us to be responsible couponers who respect the system and each other. I am so glad to be part of such a great group of women. You rock! 🙂
Thanks for the heads up!
Collin, I’ve been following you for the better part of a year, and this is the first I’ve ever seen this happen on your site. As many posts as you do, I don’t think you should fret too much about this. You are doing the right thing by making us aware, and at this point, it’s all you can do. Your integrity shines through in the way you are handling the problem. I did print out a few of these, but did not use them as my CVS was out of the band aids that week, luckily. Don’t let this get you down, and deter you from helping so many of us be thrifty shoppers. Use it as a learning experience and move on. I, and all of your core followers, appreciate what you do here!
Colin,
Your heart of integrity is a blessing! Thanks for being so wonderful…
There must be a legit version and a fake because I received this coupon link in an email from Jewel-Osco/Albertson weekly email back on March 24th (I still have the email). I will continue to use my coupons as I am confident it is real. I have noticed other coupons on CIC that were legit at one point only to later show up there as fake ($1 off simply orange was from their own facebook page).
You know, I thought the same thing… it’s not even on the main list for CIC. I checked…I’m very confused about all this. I don’t see how mine could be counterfeit! I went thru bricks and it only let me print 2 per computer!
I agree Katie, I also have the Jewel-Osco email in my trash bin in which they emailed this coupon out to their client base. I printed my coupons directly from that email – I’m thinking that there must be a real and a fake coupon out there too.
I got mine from Albertsons email a couple of weeks back too but have been unable to use it because no stores in my area will take a coupon that beeps. This is confusing!!
Confused–I just typed in the veri-fi code on my coupon and it checked out fine. It shouldn’t do that if conterfeit should it??
I’m pretty confident that the one that you have pictured on this post is fake as the expiration date looks weird and not like the one on my coupons. I don’t think the ones printed from the brick links site is fake. I’m sure someone just printed one out and scanned it and posted that one. I went to the veri-fi website and entered both of my codes and they are both valid.
They are all fake, someone hacked into the bricks system… that is the scary part of it
Laura, please post a legitimate source to back up that incredible statement. This thread is reminding me of the Orson Wells radio show where he read War of the Worlds. Everyone, please destroy ALL of your printed coupons NOW before YOU are labeled a user of printable coupons. Off with your heads!
Collin, I like your site, and I include it in a list of sites I have printed out (business card size) for those that are curious about how to coupon shop. However, I think that this post is a dis-service to couponers. Legit official sites say the coupon is valid while Mutt & Jeff at CIC have ‘declared’ that the copies AND the legit coupons directly from Bricks are now ALL bad.
Collin, I am thinking there are valid coupons and then someone made fake ones as well. Veri-fi.com is showing that mine are valid.
I emailed cents-off.com about the fact that my coupon is considered legit by veri-fi.com, yet they show it to be fraudulent. I want them to explain why.
Please let us know what you find out
Hi Kim, I clicked on the link that Collin has in her message regarding the counterfeit coupon.
Collin has a direct link to the Coupon Information Corporation (CIC). It’s a very interesting website and organization, and definitely worth referencing.
walmarts computer would not scan it so that is explains why not. it is not your fault collin please dont feel bad.
Ok people:
1. Nobody hacked coupons.com and put the coupon there. J&J is the responsible party for contracting coupons.com and hiring them in their advertising campaign. So either J&J went MAD, or there is something CIC is not telling us . The coupon was obviously a VALID coupon… and it still is.
2. I suspect that CIC is referring to THAT exact coupon (those exact numbers) because maybe it was mass copied. Maybe the retailers tried to redeem massive quantities of this exact number: 0109104522712801
3. Go to the verify site where you can verify the validity of brick coupons: http://www.verify.com and enter the number 0109104522712801 (the number of the coupon featured in the CIC alert). IT IS VALID !
This tells you that it WAS issued by the coupons.com network …which means it WAS issued by J&J.
So stop with this nonsense of going back to the store and returning stuff, or destroying your valid coupons.
I also emailed CIC and i will email J&J too.
Please keep us posted. This whole situation does not make sense, and poor Collin feels bad. There are over 100 comments and collectively we still do not understand what is going on.
Tino, thanks for the intelligent post. It seems that so many people are yelling that the house is on fire, but there are not only no flames, there isn’t even any smoke!!
I just went to veri-fi.com and put in the code ON the coupon in the CIC photo & it said it was valid!
I was just curious as to what the veri-fi system would come up as if I entered the code from the example counterfeit coupon that is listed in the link from the CIC…
Well, it came back as valid!??!!?!
If it was counterfeit, shouldn’t it have come back as not valid?
It even had the correct info on it, as it says on the coupon….
I am confused…???
I feel bad I used one and it beeped but the manager put it though anyway. I will call tomorrow and let the store know. I would hate for the manager to get in trouble. I feel bad this just makes things harder for the people who are just trying to save money and stretch their dollar.
The problem lies with the UPC. The veri-fi site (bricks) states that the UPC should have a 3 at the end and the one I printed (and the counterfeit one) has a 7. All the other numbers are the same. So…either someone, somehow has infiltrated the bricks.com system and can now get veri-fi codes, or there was an error in the UPC when the coupon was made by bricks. Maybe we shall soon find out!
ive never seen a coupon like that before…mix up with aveno to baby lotion to listernine
Wow. I too just checked it at veri-fi.com- same result: “You entered Veri-FI code 0369208318123402
This code is VALID.” How in the world they were able to do that?? The only difference i see is that the last digit in the UPC Code: 9 9411677319 3. Mine has #7- same as pictured above- instead of #3 at the end. My coupon also has a typo “the face balue” in fine print. So, I am NOT going to use it even though Veri-FI code (top right) came as valid. Something must be wrong with it.
I just typed in the veri-fi code on my coupon and it checked out fine also ?…
I knew there was something sketchy about that coupon !!! It came off as $4 and not $2 when I was at Publix the other day !