Is Dollar General giving out $150 coupons?

Just in time for back-to-school shopping, hundreds of thousands of people are sharing a great coupon for Dollar General stores.

It's a coupon for $150 worth of merchandise to honor Dollar General's birthday.

Colleen Herman wasn't sure what to make of the Facebook post that asked her to share it for a big -- really big -- Dollar General coupon.

"It says they are celebrating 80 years of service, and that I needed to like and share the post," she said.

In just a couple of weeks, more than 750,000 people have shared it.

Latest in a string of Facebook coupons

In recent years, coupons like this have popped up on Facebook for all sorts of stores: grocery stores like Kroger, Publix and Aldi, Walgreens, Walmart and Target.

And when you try to use it, in every case the outcome is the same: you receive nothing.

Unfortunately, in each of these cases, there is no free merchandise. Dollar General has posted on its Facebook page that this is a scam, just like all the recent coupons promising $60 or more of free merchandise.

It even has a name: It is something called "like farming," with marketers harvesting and re-selling names of active Facebook members.

Herman says that's what she suspected.

"It's almost a scheme, click and share for marketing purposes, but I probably wouldn't do it. And at a dollar store for $150," she said.

Think about it: $150 worth of Dollar General items would be a whole aisle of merchandise. The store would be empty and out of business in a couple of days.

Andrea Kimplan says her mother always warned about things like this.

"My mom always said, 'If it's too good to be true, it's a lie.' So I wouldn't try this, no," she said.

Mom obviously was right, again. As always, don't waste your money.

--------------------------------

Don't Waste Your Money" is a registered trademark of Scripps Media, Inc. ("Scripps").

"Like" John Matarese on Facebook

Follow John on Twitter (@JohnMatarese)

For more consumer news and money saving advice, go to www.dontwasteyourmoney.com