Is Kohl’s Offering a $100 Coupon to Celebrate Its 57th Anniversary?
Claim
Kohl’s is offering a $100 coupon to celebrate the department store’s 57th anniversary.
Rating: Scam
Origin
In late November 2019, a coupon purporting to offer $100 in merchandise from the Kohl’s department store circulated on Facebook. The alleged coupon was shared with false information that it was being offered as a promotion commemorating Kohl’s 57th anniversary and asked viewers to click on a survey question.
This is a scam. Such efforts that trick viewers by offering free goods or money are long-standing. Kohl’s is also a frequent target of such scams, but this fraud can target any business, from airlines to beer makers. A good rule of thumb to follow: If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is.
These types of viral “coupon” scams often involve websites and social media pages set up to mimic those of legitimate companies. Users who respond to those fake offers are required to share a website link or social media post in order to spread the scam more widely and lure in additional victims. Then those users are presented with a “survey” that extracts personal information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and even sometimes credit card numbers. Finally, those who want to claim their “free” gift cards or coupons eventually learn they must first sign up to purchase a number of costly goods, services, or subscriptions.
Despite the latest coupon scam above, Kohl’s was indeed celebrating its 57th year as a department store, as of September 2019. It opened its first store in Brookfield, Wisconsin, according to company literature. In 2016, a variation of the same type of scam circulated, offering viewers $75 off purchases.
The Better Business Bureau offers consumers several general tips to avoid getting scammed:
- Don’t believe what you see. It’s easy to steal the colors, logos, and header of any other established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and e-mails appear to come from a different sender.
- Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information for coupons or giveaways. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or e-mail, be sure there’s a link to their privacy policy.
- When in doubt, do a quick web search. If the giveaway is a scam, this is likely to reveal an alert or bring you to the organization’s real website, where they may have posted further information.
- Watch out for a reward that’s too good to be true. Businesses typically give out small discounts to entice customers. If the offer seems too good to be true (a $100 voucher or 50% discount) it may be a scam.
- Look for a mismatched subject line and e-mail body. Many of these scams have an e-mail subject line promising one thing, but the content of the email is something completely different.
Not to forget 
This month our guest poet is 
A little shout out here for 
The packed house in the wonderful O2 stadium, was treated to tennis of the highest quality. There were plenty of powerful rallies with tightly angled ground strokes, neatly placed volleys and superb retrievals. Although both had the chance to get a break in the first set they held their nerve and their serves through to the inevitable tie-break. Thiem got the jump on his rival by breaking his very first serve and took the set 7-6. 
