Coupon Fraud Subcommittee Forming

MICHAEL GARRY

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Joint Industry Coupon Committee (JICC), the industry group that sets coupon policy, is forming a subcommittee that will address coupon fraud, and is seeking participants.

The subcommittee will develop a "reverse database" of counterfeit coupons that retailers can use to reject coupons identified as being in the database, said Lauri Martin, senior manager of coupon strategy or Coca-Cola Refreshments, during a presentation yesterday at the U Connect Live conference here.

The conference is sponsored by GS1 US, Lawrenceville, N.J. in partnership with VICS. Companies interested in joining the subcommittee should contact Sue Knotts at Wakefern Food Corp., Keasbey, N.J.

Coca-Cola experienced $1.7 million in counterfeit coupon losses last year, Martin said. She noted that scanning all the elements in a coupon bar code, retailers “can really stop a lot of this activity."