USPS Oig Report On Counterfeit Stamps 16 June 2026

https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/defau...-121-r26.pdf

Finally, a current authoritative government report specific to the counterfeiting problem with some shocking admissions and numbers.

Read for yourself but the OIG estimates losses related to counterfeiting just in FY2026 of 349 million dollars and revenue at risk just in FY2026 of 1.7 billion dollars. Just ONE fiscal year!

This is a fascinating read and well worth the time.

Indeed an interesting report. I note that the revenue loss calculation is based on the old 78c/letter rate yielding the 349million dollar figure. Assuming the same rate of loss @ 8c/letter, the loss forecast rises to 432.5million. The USPS nit-picking in management's response about that full amount not being recoverable given the cost of recover is, itself, a sad commentary on the USPS' focus.

If it costs $2 to recover a $1 loss, it a wise fiscal action. The issue is again, China coupled with the people who use the fake stamps. The huge traffickers will never have enough money to pay restitution for the loss. Debtor's prison is not allow in the USA.

The only reasonable action to stop the counterfeiting is doing away with stamps and demonetizing all previous issues or going to war with China (again, not cost effective). That of course means meters and in person PO visits.

Thanks for sharing. Had the chance to talk with someone from OIG who was up for the Boston show and it was a very illuminating conversation. They seem to really know how bad the problem is, but you can't turn a tanker on a dime...

The other nugget from that conversation is that China is still the main bad actor here, but declining as a percentage of the overall - more and more of the interceptions are coming from other countries (primarily in SE Asia).



Sadly, I have to agree (with the first part, not the war - we've seen how well those turn out! - and, as mentioned, it's not just China that's the problem here, but a bunch of non-state actors located elsewhere). We've already talked about the legal thicket of demonetizing Forever stamps, but I don't see how else to fully deal with the issue.

The interceptions may be from other Countries but that is likely China using those Countries as transit points. They have shifted their methods of getting things into the US because of the increased scrutiny tariffs has brought. The production is still China because the capital involved in producing the counterfeit goods is substantial and the CCP is at the center of the effort and financing.

Perhaps, but not necessarily. I was told that there are some enterprising groups in SE Asia who saw the $$$ to be made from selling knockoff stamps on Facebook and decided to get into the game. Not everything is China at the center, and I'm glad OIG doesn't have the blinders on and is able to see where things are shifting.

Interesting. I have to imagine that as with high-quality counterfeit currency there are a select few technicians overall that are in demand to produce the really good fakes. These are not some cowboys operating out of their garages. The machinery and facilities I have seen in photos cost many millions of dollars unless of course you were an existing manufacturer of legal things that converted to more profitable US postage.

I had seen estimates of the financial scope of the problem in the past that were in the100-million-dollar range annually, so these new numbers are jaw dropping.

Would it be too much to ask of ebay and Facebook to temporarily halt all listings of US face postage?

My wife was just stopped from listing a vintage coffee pot on ebay because it was known to have a design flaw that could cause someone to burn themselves. They can't stop counterfeit stamps? There is also a supplement company running ads warning of over 150 Chinese companies on ebay mimicking their company branding and selling counterfeit pills that contain everything from baking soda to "soil". The company cannot get ebay to act on shutting these sellers down. Something has to change here, and I guess Congress needs to act (don't laugh).

[q][/Something has to change here, and I guess Congress needs to act (don't laugh).]



We will all have mint NH blocks of four of the 1847's before that happens.......

Seems rather surprising to me, too - you'd think this would be an easy enough fix, relatively speaking. Just stop sales of mint non-denominated (forever) postage. Blanket ban.

Hopefully the Post Office is also looking carefully at counterfeit high denomination stamps. I found this listing on Alibaba for fake current issue Priority Mail Express stamps, that have a $33.25 face value, going for 10 cents each if your buy 1000. There is also a $130 shipping charge from China for the 1000 so the total cost is actually 23 cents per "stamp".

The current cost to send a Large Flat Rate Priority Mail package is $34. One of these fakes with a fake Forever stamp would let someone ship up to 70 pounds anywhere in the US. To add even more insult to injury, USPS gives away empty Priority Mail boxes for free so the scammers wouldn't even have to pay for the supplies. Talk about a way for the USPS to lose money quickly.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...3eb17c8b5880

Someone in one of our other counterfeit threads wrote something like "too bad you can't train dogs to sniff out counterfeits like they can sniff out drugs".

Actually, you might be able to. The adhesive in self-adhesives has a smell. The question is whether the dogs would get tripped up by any stickers. Given the numbers that are flooding in, it is seems likely that they are largely coming in in large batches and not a ton of small shipments. Assuming they could sniff out a pad (or batch of rolls) of self-adhesive stamps, your next question is, how would they know they were counterfeit? Anyone with a working brain cell knows no one is shipping legit pads of US self-adhesive stamps into the country, so they are immediately suspect and thus subject to an inspector's comparison to real ones.

All they would have to do is plant something with a stronger aroma in the package and that would be the end of the dogs finding anything.

"If it costs $2 to recover a $1 loss, it a wise fiscal action."

Perhaps. While the IRS audits returns that look "off", they also do some random audits, many of which likely cost more than they recover, simply to put the gear into everyone.

"The only reasonable action to stop the counterfeiting is doing away with stamps and demonetizing all previous issues or going to war with China (again, not cost effective)."

Or how about our government puts pressure on the Chinese government? Somehow a multi Hundred Billion Dollar problem doesn't seem to be on their radar, but when something is, they certainly aren't shy about being aggressive.

"I have to imagine that as with high-quality counterfeit currency there are a select few technicians overall that are in demand to produce the really good fakes. These are not some cowboys operating out of their garages. The machinery and facilities I have seen in photos cost many millions of dollars unless of course you were an existing manufacturer of legal things that converted to more profitable US postage."

They are likely existing print shops that already have the equipment. Also, far easier to counterfeit stamps than currency, so the number of people who have that skill is not so small (with today's computer technology, it is far easier to do than it used to be).

"All they would have to do is plant something with a stronger aroma in the package and that would be the end of the dogs finding anything."

If that were the case, drug sniffing dogs would be worthless too.