BOGUS Coupon Report: Coupons Will Not Be Extinct on July 1st

I’m sure you all remember the breaking news in the world of coupons concerning the rash of coupon fraud. Coupons have recently made big news again. In the past week there has been a bogus coupon report that has popped up in the social media world. Inboxes everywhere claiming that coupons will be banned starting July 1st. Well, these reports are simply not true. Coupons will not be ‘extinct’ on July 1st. Furthermore, our way of frugal living is not in jeopardy.

According to CouponsInTheNews.com, “They all originate from a site called Sunday Times Daily (which, if you think about it, couldn’t possibly be the name of a real news publication). The clickbait website, founded just a few weeks ago, has already generated hundreds of thousands of visits, by publishing outrageous fake news stories made to look like they’re from real news sites, encouraging visitors to submit their own, and hoping they go viral.

“So far, the most popular stories seem to be coupon-related. A story purporting to be from the New York Times claims that P&G is getting out of the coupon business. A ‘Wall Street Journal’ story says Walmart will no longer accept coupons.”

Additionally, CouponsInTheNews ‘reported’, “That story earned 200,000 views on the day it was published earlier this week, and has since surpassed 300,000. Only after you click through to the site and read the fake story, does a new page appear that says ‘it was just a joke’ and invites you to ‘share it and trick your friends.'”

When you see outlandish reports like this, it’s important to think through the news logically. Always remember, just because it’s on the internet does not automatically make it true.

Here are a few tips on fishing out what is real and what isn’t online:

• Is the “news” you are reading from an obscure website?: Make sure you are always reading the “news” from a true news source.
• Is the claim over-the-top?: Over-the-top claims should always raise a red flag in your mind. Ending the use of coupons in the United States would be major news on large media sites. It wouldn’t just make news on an obscure site like the Sunday Times Daily.
• Does the article seem like it’s been written by a robot with an overuse of certain words? Some companies use writers from foreign countries to create content for sites. They may write in broken English. Strange uses of keywords should give you a heads up.
• Check out slightly unbelievable claims on Snopes.com. If you have a question about a claim in an article or forwarded email, Snopes likely will always have an answer. Snopes has a team of researchers constantly checking into bogus claims. If you ever doubt the validity of a rumor on the web (such as a bogus coupon report), check Snopes first.