Coupon Scams Could Cost You

By Amy E. Feldman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Free coupons? That's gonna cost you.

Most people believe that the Friday after Thanksgiving, aka "Black Friday" is the busiest shopping day of the year. Not true, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, which has found that the Saturday before Christmas is consistently the busiest shopping day.

One more shopping myth: you should always download online coupons before buying. Because while manufacturers distribute nearly 330 billion legitimate on line coupons every year, there are several digital coupon scams to know.

The first is just fake coupons that are simply a waste of time. But more pernicious are the sites that download malware into your system, or phishing scams that take you to what looks like a legitimate site and have you put in your credit card details or personal information and then steal it.

So, to avoid online coupon scams, don't agree to download software. Never pay money for coupons or discounts. Be suspicious of coupon sites that have you enter your personal information before providing you the coupon codes.

Or, simply go to the newspaper circular with those old-fashioned cut out coupons.