By Illegal stamps are becoming increasingly produced (difficult to identify). U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently seized more than 160,000 counterfeit stamps in Chicago, the agency announced Thursday. Keep reading for everything you should know and how to spot fake postage.
Customs confiscated counterfeit stamps
CBP announced on February 13 that it seized 161,860 counterfeit U.S. Forever stamps in Chicago the previous weekend. Officers assigned to the Anti-Terrorism Contraband Enforcement Team at the Chicago International Mail Branch found the counterfeit U.S. Postal Service postage stamps in parcels arriving from China, according to a press release.
The bureau has seen a higher frequency of counterfeit U.S. Postal Service postage stamps (which violate trademark laws), especially around the holidays including high-volume card holidays like Valentine’s Day, the statement explained.
What does this mean for you?
Counterfeit stamps allow people to send mail without paying postage costs. If genuine, the stamps seized last weekend would hold a value of more than $118,000, the agency said. Fake stamps contribute to loss of postal service revenue and cause customer mail to be either delayed and returned for payment or potentially disposed of.
“Counterfeiters only care about making a profit,” said LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, Director of Field Operations-Chicago. “They don’t care about the effect that fake postage has on your ability to send important mail and overall impacts the U.S. economy.”
The print quality of fake stamps is improving, the CBP noted, but the enforcement team was able to discern it from authentic postage stamps, which are produced at the U.S. Bureau of Engraving & Printing in the United States.
However, the agency pointed out that the average consumer may not notice a difference between a valid and illegal stamp. These stamps were determined to be counterfeit based on the very low invoice value, the routing and extreme efforts to conceal the stamps.
It is against federal law to use, sell or deposit packages or letters with counterfeit postage or stamps attached in the U.S. Mail. Risk of criminal and/or civil penalties is present for anyone involved in this fraudulent activity.
How to recognize fake stamps
According to the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), a deal on stamps that seems too good to be true is likely a scam. The number of counterfeit stamps being sold from online platforms has grown, the USPIS states.
Scammers also try to sell fake stamps on social media marketplaces, e-commerce sites via third-party vendors and other websites. Counterfeit stamps are often sold in bulk quantities at a significant discount—anywhere from 20 to 50 percent of their face value.
The inspection service advises against purchasing stamps from a third-party wholesaler or online websites as this keeps you from verifying whether they are genuine or not. Instead, it is recommended to purchase from Approved Postal Providers.
Approved vendors can include legitimate big box or warehouse retailers who do provide very small discounts on postage stamps, but this is through resale agreements with the Postal Service.
