WASHINGTON (TNND) — Seven people were sentenced to prison for playing a role in a $31 million coupon fraud scheme in Virginia.
“According to court documents, from at least April 2017 through May 2020, Lori Ann Talens, of Virginia Beach, used a computer to design, create, and produce a wide variety of counterfeit coupons in her Virginia Beach home, and used social media and apps to find groups of coupon enthusiasts and sell them the counterfeit coupons,” the DOJ wrote in a press release.
The FBI said that a woman named Sherise Williams and others bought counterfeit coupons from Talens in bulk quantities.
“For every dollar paid to Talens, customers received an estimated $50 in counterfeit coupons; an analysis determined that the scheme caused a total loss of approximately $31,817,997 to retailers and manufacturers,” the FBI wrote on X.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI field…
Review your monthly bank statements and credit card bills line-by-line to spot small “tester” transactions of R5 or R10, which fraudsters use to verify if a stolen card is still active.