Texas police seized nearly $40,000 worth of household items from a group of people who were allegedly involved in a coupon scheme.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office announced this week that three people were arrested and charged with theft in connection to an alleged coupon scheme that included nearly 87 people in 23 states.
According to police, the group is responsible for swindling millions of dollars from multiple stores. The sheriff’s office said that it is currently working with the FBI and anticipates discovering more conspirators who were involved in the theft.
“There is a dark-web or dark-side coupon group that is doing nothing but selling coupons that are fraudulently and sophistically made to resemble actual coupons by the manufacturers,” Sheriff’s Capt. Tim Holifield said during a news conference on Tuesday.
Law enforcement officials first began an investigation into the coupon fraud in Montgomery County last year when a Walgreens pharmacy reached out to local officers and alerted them that fake coupons were used. From there, officials found that local retailers including Target, H-E-B, Kroger and Walmart had similar incidents, according to The Washington Post.
Investigators also discovered that customers were using a website to order counterfeit coupons and a “printing house” that allegedly housed printers that were identical to those that retailers use to print their own coupons, the news outlet noted.
“They had a number of computers lined up and printers, and they were just going through the ink and tape — just continuing to mass-produce these coupons,” Holifield said.
Social media platforms with public marketplaces, such as Facebook and Craigslist, reportedly helped to lead investigators to possible conspirators. One suspect allegedly purchased nearly $200,000 worth of items with the help of the fake coupons.
“When you go to social media … you may see someone selling laundry detergent,” Holifield said. “Many times these are people who have acquired them through fraud — not all — but certainly that’s probably one of their marketing attempts.”
Holifield said that suspects allegedly involved in the scheme could face state and federal charges.