More coupon certificate booklet and clipping schemes have appeared on the Internet. Consumers and charitable groups are being promised earnings of “hundreds or thousands per month” by selling coupon booklets or cutting coupons at home. It’s a lie.

There’s only one legitimate way to use a coupon. Cut it out of the newspaper or other source and use it toward the purchase of the designated product. Transferring coupons to a third party violates most manufacturers’ redemption rules and voids the coupon.

Here’s how the scams usually work. A promoter offers you a “business opportunity” selling coupon certificate booklets. You are supposed to sell the booklets for $20 to $50 each. The booklets contain 20 to 50 certificates, each of which can be redeemed for $10 worth of grocery coupons. That makes each booklet “worth” between $200 and $500 in coupons. To redeem the certificates for coupons, you must complete and mail a form, select 30 to 50 products from a list and include a self-addressed, stamped envelope and a processing fee.

In theory, you should make big profits selling the booklets and your “customers” should save big money by using the coupons when they buy groceries. In reality, the promoter is the only one who makes money.

You, who spent several hundred to several thousand dollars to buy the “distributorship,” lose money because inflated earnings claims never deliver. Consumers who pay processing fees and postage for coupons lose money because they can clip coupons for themselves from their newspaper. To redeem $500 worth of certificates, for example, a consumer might pay postage and processing fees of more than $100. And everyone loses on false claims that coupons have no expiration date.

A related scam centers on coupon clipping. Promoters make inflated promises about the income or profit potential for consumers working at home clipping coupons. The claims sound appealing, but they are unsubstantiated at best and lies at worst.

Sometimes, fraudulent promoters use coupons clipped by consumers to fill orders from other consumers who redeem the coupon certificates. Many manufacturers have policies that do not allow coupons to be transferred. That is, the coupons that are being sold may not be redeemed by the retailer or manufacturer. Avoid losing money to a bogus coupon opportunity by rejecting guarantees of big profits or amazing savings, and claims that no risk is involved. If you are involved in a coupon deal that isn’t making good on its promises, write to Consumer Forum and we’ll steer you to help.

Beef of the week: Janet T. of Caribou writes, “I’m amazed at how so many ‘fast food’ takeout places have turned into ‘slow boil’ opportunities, as least as far as I’m concerned. I was at a drive-up the other day and told it would take ‘three minutes’ before my order was ready. I was asked to drive to the curb and wait for delivery of my burger. Twenty minutes later the (cold) order was brought to my car. This was the third time this has happened at that location.”

And finally, COMBAT and the Maine Center for the Public Interest are planning to conduct “Market Basket Surveys” in which volunteers regularly check prices of similar items in several stores and report findings so members and readers can make informed shopping choices. For information about volunteering for this project, write to Consumer Forum or e-mail volunteer@consumerprotect.org and we will be in touch.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast COMBAT/The Maine Center for the Public Interest, Maine’s membership-funded nonprofit consumer organization. For help or to request individual or business membership information write: Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329.