A New Junk Mail Approach: Fake Cancel Behind The Stamp!

A piece of junk mail I received today with an interesting fake postmark. Note the so-called postmark was printed on the envelope before the Presort Standard stamp was affixed (which didn't need to be postmarked in the first place).

Just how stupid do these mass mailers think we are?!



Same postmark with color removed and contrast skewed to show just where the killer bars of the fake postmark continues BEHIND the stamp:

Strange! But at least you got a date and city of origin. Could it be the sender uses more than one direct-mailing service and wants to be able to distinguish performance quality among them?

I have this stamp in my stock book. I remember it being a mysterious type of paper with a slippery non-absorptive kind of surface on front. By no means transparent. Could it be that, in your enhancement that the cancel was applied to the top? Because I see a faded continuation of the cancel in the rectangular boxes it hits. Could it be that the cancel, though stupid, may have been applied over the stamp after all, and then the ink didn't take due to the stamp's surface?


-IBFS

I concur with IBFS, I think I see very faint lines of the cancel on the stamp.
don

The fact that you can only see it on the white parts of the stamp could just indicate that you can see through the white parts of the stamp to the envelop below with the cancel. At least that was my thought when I saw that.

Soak it and take a look!
don

The postmark is definitely BEHIND the stamp. I just peeled the stamp back to prove it (you can also see it under a high intensity light):

Ah, interesting!
Thank you,
don

Now wt1 will have to put it in a clamp for 2 months to make it stick back down properly.

Actually, it stuck back down pretty well. I didn't remove the stamp entirely from the envelope, as a result the adhesive both on the stamp and the envelope blended together pretty well so it looks as if it wasn't at all disturbed. Besides, it's junk mail ... (in fact, a scam about winning airline tickets), the stamp is as common as they come and the postmark is bogus anyway. I just keep it as a sample of what new ideas these mailing houses come up with.

Strange. I still don't see the motive for putting a fake cancel behind the stamp. Thanks for showing it, wt1.

There's only one stamp I've seen recently where the postmark rubs off, it's the weathervane series, all of my postmarks wipe off of the gloss.
At any rate, they don't think we're as stupid as the non-junk mailers who pitney whatever their envelopes a WEEK before mailing. Those get me...

[URL=http://s168.photobucket.com/user/oldsmostang/media/IMG_20140505_0001_NEW_zpsc4b3b5d2.jpg.html"][/URL]

This one is on the stamp so is it a genuine postmark? I for one don't care. I would guess that MASS mailers don't care if stamp collectors like the mass mailing vehicle when the target is (fill in the blank)

The few stamp collectors that receive these just fall into the MASS part of the large net that is thrown.I doubt if any one that is involved with the mass mailing of these items even cares or knows if the cancel is under the stamp or on the stamp.I would say that 99% of all people that receive these type of mailings would not notice the cancellation or postmark. I doubt if most people even know what a postmark is.

It seems to me the mass mailers are applying the theory that a recipient is more likely to open a piece of stamped mail than one with just a postage paid indicium. The fake (and real) cancellations just add to the "legitimacy" of the mailing. As philatelists we are aware of this ploy, but the average American doesn't know the difference between a first class stamp and a junk mail (bulk rate) stamp.

Regards, Robert