Counterfeit Stamps Pass Postal Scrutiny

I posted on here a couple of months ago a photo of a postcard I received from the Netherlands. No stamp, just a string of letters and numbers written in the upper right corner in lieu of a stamp.

A couple of countries have this system now: go on your phone or computer, pay for postage, write the code, drop in the post box.

I was watching Wayne Youngblood's recent presentation on forgeries on CWP and I have to agree with him; I do worry that the extent of the problem (I didn't realize it was hundreds of millions in lost revenue annually) will hasten the demise of the postage stamp.

The non-collector is just not sophisticated enough to spot fakes (and the new ones will trip up even most collectors, I'd wager), and if people think they can save a few bucks on postage after being bombarded by semi-professional looking ads from "US Postal Service" on Facebook for discount Forever stamps, they'll do just that.

At some point, USPS will just have to decide what's more important: revenue integrity or the postage stamp as a going medium to show prepayment. Hopefully we won't have to choose between the two, and maybe we won't - but I'm just not confident enough in USPS' ability to stay enough ahead of the crooks.

I'd be curious to see how the UK and other countries are dealing with this problem, too...

I don't see how they can really fight any of it. Even in the UK, putting QR codes on the stamps, that doesn't stop people from faking the QR codes. It won't go through the mails but by then, the scammer already has their money and doesn't care. If the goal is to defraud the postal service, they're just going to start to forge older stamps before whatever security procedures were in place. The only way the USPS can get around that is to demonetize every stamp ever issued.

That would be a complete mess.

...and perhaps the goal of China.

Just saw an ad on www.msn.com that is advertising US stamps @ 50% discount. Assuming a scam, I did a Google search on the vendor web address (Uspsfaststamps) and it is considered to be untrustworthy.

My question is, how would a person send an alert to MSN.com?

That would be useless because MSN doesn't control the placement of those ads. Like all large websites, MSN offers digital ad space to multiple demand-side platforms. Brands or publishers bid for placement through the DSP, which picks the highest bidder and redirects the ad unit on MSN to the winning bidder's ad. MSN has no way to know or control what ad ultimately is placed outside of broad policy constraints on the DSPs and the likelihood that MSN would communicate with all its DSPs to convince them to block this advertiser is unlikely.

Well...my communication to Senators Mark Warner & Tim Kaine (Virginia) got a response from both. Tim Kaine's response was that he thanked me for being a good citizen and communicating about issues in the Commonwealth with no actual acknowledgment that I had said something about the Post Office. Here is the response from Senator Mark Warner:

------------------------------------
Dear Dr. Moore,

Following you will find the response from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to my inquiry on your behalf. I appreciate the opportunity to look into this matter for you.

USPS states: "This is in response to Service Request 40220051 on behalf of your constituent Mr. Kevin Moore.

After investigation and consultation with the United States Postal Inspection Service, the congressional inquiry has been addressed.

Please inform your constituent that his request has been transferred to the Mgr. Postal Inspector, and the individual will contact him for additional information and to provide an adequate resolution. Also, please inform Dr. Moore that the United States Postal Inspection Service is aware of the counterfeit postage schemes and are working closely with Customs and Border Protection as an effort to cease fraudulent operations and confiscate the postage.

Additionally, with assistance from our representatives employed at various USPS Processing & Distribution Centers and local Post Offices, we are eagerly confiscating fraudulent postage stamps, as it is recognized in our mail stream.

Once again, please allow us to apologize for the unfortunate experience.

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to respond."

My staff and I stand ready to be of assistance to you in any other matter that is of concern to you. Thank you.

Sincerely,
MARK R. WARNER
United States Senator

And now there is this:




https://bestlifeonline.com/counterf...s-mail-news/

rogdcam - interesting bit! So.... it actually is NOT about profit. At least some of it. And I can imagine no other reason to give away counterfeit stamps other than to upset the finances of the USPS. Oh, those tricky Chinese! Up to their old communist tricks again.

Did the 'free roll' also contain a link or order form to purchase more?
Don

I don't trust reports that quote an unknown person saying they heard someone....

Too many possible alternative explanations. EG: someone else in the household ordered them and won't fess up. Maybe the cop misunderstood the complaint.

Since China is "giving away" Fentanyl by the bucketful in every manner of pill and powder imaginable I do not find it to be a stretch that they are "giving away" counterfeit stamps.

It's unfortunate that the stamp industry has gone the self-adhesive route. Otherwise the Chinese could combine their efforts and market lick-and-stick counterfeit stamps with fentanyl-laced gum.

Or a gum with a modified bat virus.
Don

Attitudes such as that is why it an easy life for scammers....

The term for this underhanded practice is "Brushing Scam."

https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-art...rushing-scam

https://www.newsweek.com/seeds-myst...scam-1522999

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/23/busi...g/index.html

https://www.wral.com/got-a-package-...am/19487274/

https://bestlifeonline.com/unordered-package-news/

https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/l...c1c48d9bdcd8

I will stop there. If you think they are all fake news more will not likely change your mind.

Yep, and the news article cited mentioned none of this. Instead, they just left people with a scary feeling that they were being ripped off, with no information about what was actually going on..