Suspicious coupon sites may use malware. Credit: husin.sani/Flickr
A friend from the Los Angeles Daily News sent in this tip about the dark side of coupon sites:
Hey Julia, thought this might interest you.
I’ve been seeing lots of ads for a site called “Coupon Suzy” (couponsuzy.com) so I decided to check them out.
The site itself looks like it offers some decent coupon deals, but to actually print a coupon, you have to install THEIR printer driver.
A little Google detective work revealed that
the Suzy’s printer driver is malware or spyware. I avoided downloading it (fortunately) and will avoid Coupon Suzy and similar sites that require a customized piece of software to simply print something out. That’s why the gods of Adobe invented PDFs.
Roger
Not that all coupon sites have malware or are suspicious, but there certainly are more than a few out there. So be very careful before you download any driver or plugin. And when in doubt, do without!
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price.
I don’t know why this (or any other site) requires one to use their own printer software, but according to http://www.truste.org/pvr.php?page=validate&softwareProgramId=37&sealid=112 couponsuzy’s “Certified Standard Software neither serves advertising outside of its own interface (e.g. as pop-ups), nor collects a user’s behavior in another application to transfer to a third party”. YMMV.
Couponsuzy’s ads are on tv. I used to buy her books at grocery store, back in the day. We traded coupons by mail.
There were alwys ads in back of bok of people wanting to trade, You would get good traders and not so good ones,But I did get a good list . I don’t know if this is the same one or not though.
It would be nice if your reader, Roger, provided the source of the information that is claiming the site’s printer driver is malware, other than just a google search. As much as I appreciate the heads up, here we also have a reader, Stan, whose research apparently certifies their software as fine. So, someone who is really interested in finding out which is correct would need the other source, and then do their own research to come to their own level of comfort.
@Susan C. The purpose of this post is to let readers know that they should be careful when downloading printer drivers to get coupons, and that they should do their own research.
Her post is not intended to deter you from using CouponSuzy.com.
If you have a good anti-virus, anti-malware, and anti-spyware software installed in your computer then you’re good to go.
I am quite savvy on a computer, as I make over 80% of my income online, and not being computer savvy could be detrimental to my livelihood.
Anyways, to make a long story short, I think Roger has jumped the gun and panicked a lot of people unnecessarily here.
Many of the largest coupon sites require you to download their software to print the coupons.
This is NOT because they are spyware, but because their software allows them to properly track the coupons being requested, as not to abuse them or their limits.
I have no problem with installing printer drivers for the coupon sites I frequent. I think that their initiative to provide proper inventory control of their coupons is more a positive than a negative.
Sorry Charlie! (er … I mean Roger)
I have worked in IT for over 15 years you can limit the number of coupons printed by back address or IP address. There is no reason to install software on your PC. I see PCs infected at work and personal PCs many are infected with coupon toolbars and other malware.
@Jennifer Again, this post is intended to bring awareness and not cause a frenzy. Not everyone is a savvy computer user like you. Sadly, many people do not have the tools to protect their computer.