Virginia Beach woman sentenced to prison after massive coupon fraud scheme

When a coupon looks too good to be true....

Court documents show that, starting in 2017, Talens used social media sites like Facebook and Telegram to find groups of coupon enthusiasts and sell them fake coupons.

She used an account with the name MasterChef and created and designed fake coupons from her home, officials said.

"These counterfeit coupons were virtually indistinguishable from authentic coupons and were often created with inflated values, far in excess of what an authentic coupon would offer, in order to receive items from retail for free or for a greatly reduced price," according to the United States Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of Virginia.

One of Talens' customers reported the falsified coupons to the Coupon Information Center.

In separate fraud scheme, Talens defrauded Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program of around $43,000, officials said in a release. She applied for benefits and failed to disclose her income and the funds she was receiving from selling false coupons.

Her husband, Pacifico Talens, 43, profited and helped with the coupon scheme, officials said in a release. The couple pleaded guilty to mail fraud. Lori Talens also pleaded guilty to wire fraud and health care fraud.

“Counterfeiting coupons harms the entire retail industry and causes financial loss to consumers, businesses and the economy. As this case demonstrates, those who use illegal get-rich-quick schemes to deceive others will be brought to justice," said Raj Parekh, acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.