In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the couponing craze brought about by the economic crises, food inflation and reality shows like Extreme Couponing is spreading like wildfire.

Residents from the area are now doing their grocery shopping complete with a binder for all of their coupons. While many people are using coupons legally, following the store coupon policies, and using only the coupons for the appropriate products, there are also those who try to commit coupon frauds hoping they will get away with it. Quite a number of these coupon frauds have been committed and not caught.

For this reason, stores in the area (like Hy-Vee), are becoming more cautious in accepting coupons that are presented to their stores by coupon-clipping customers. Hy-Vee for instance, had to clarify to its customers what coupons the store will be accepting and what coupons will not be accepted.

According to Hy-Vee spokesperson Ruth Corner, the store is doing this because customers now want to use coupons when they have not in the past. Although there have been coupon frauds committed by people who are quite expert at these crimes, there are also beginner couponers who commit coupon frauds without actually intending to. This is just the stores’ way of being more vigilant and making sure that the coupons are being used like they are supposed to. One Hy-Vee store in Cedar Rapids had its cashiers take a refresher course about the rules of the store, which include limiting customers to only one manufacturer coupon and one store coupon for every product. Doubling and tripling of coupons is also not allowed at any Hy-Vee store.