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(News)
– Virginia Beach woman goes to jail for 12 years in massive coupon scam. Lori Ann Talens designed counterfeit coupons at home, complete with product photos and working barcodes, the Virginie-Pilot reports. Because coupons are so widely distributed and therefore do not each have unique barcodes, they are difficult to track, according to NBC News. Her husband, Pacifico Talens, was also found guilty and sentenced for his role which consisted mainly of distributing fakes. Coupons offered big discounts, sometimes greater than the value of the item, so that buyers got money back when they purchased items. Lori is going there for 12 years; Pacifico will serve 7 years. They are on bail for a few weeks while they organize custody of their children.
Lori Ann Talens began selling the coupons in 2017 through a network recruited from a Facebook coupon cutter group under the name MasterChef, earning around $ 400,000 and costing manufacturers around $ 31 million. She sent the coupons by courier, accepting payment via PayPal or Bitcoin, the New York Times reports. One of the coupon enthusiasts recruited into the scam figured out how it worked and reported everything to the Coupon Information Center. After Talens was caught last year, she confessed and sat down with investigators to explain how her racquet worked and how coupon scams across the country are being handled, according to the Pilot. (Read more coupon stories.)
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