O'Fallon, Mo., woman charged in coupon scam
By Susan Weich
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/22/2007

O'FALLON, Mo. -- An O'Fallon, Mo., woman who allegedly made thousands of fake coupons on her home computer and scanner was charged today with 14 counts of felony forgery.

Police say the coupons were just one part of Cynthia S. Madej's criminal enterprise.

The 40-year-old woman would use the coupons to get free products and then sell the items at garage sales or via the Internet, police said. She also sold the forged coupons to unsuspecting customers on eBay using the member name “onlyway2shop,” police said.

Madej would obtain legitimate manufacturer's coupons for various products that were for free or deeply discounted items, police said. She then used her scanner and computer to print multiple fraudulent coupons.

Police executed a search warrant at Madej's home in the 200 block of Autumn Mist Place and seized nearly 2,100 items, including numerous 8 X 11 sheets of glossy paper containing multiple coupons printed on them. They located more than 150 coupons for 14 different products.

__________________
Bud Miller, CPP
Executive Director
Coupon Information Center
www.cents-off.com

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