Signed, sealed and busted.
Nearly 162,000 counterfeit US “forever” stamps shipped from China were recently seized at a Chicago mail facility by US Border Patrol agents, authorities said.
Anti-terrorism contraband agents posted at the Chicago International Mail Branch last weekend intercepted eight shipments containing 161,860 fraudulent stamps that violated trademark laws, according to US Customs and Border Protection.
If real, the stamps would be worth more than $118,000.
The federal agency, which routinely inspects packages on arriving and departing international flights, said the postage was snatched after agents spotted its poor quality, low invoice value, routing and the “extraordinary” effort to conceal the lot.
“Counterfeiters only care about making a profit. They don’t care about the effect that fake postage has on your ability to send important mail and overall impacts the US economy,” LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, Director of Field Operations-Chicago, said in a statement.
“Our officers and specialists are some of the most highly trained in the nation, and their level of expertise is evident with these seizures. CBP officers were able to identify these very realistic counterfeits and stop them from reaching their destinations.”
With counterfeiting becoming more advanced — with most consumers unable to detect a difference — officials said there’s been an uptick in fake stamps around high volume card holidays, like Valentine’s Day.
Authentic postage stamps are produced at the US Bureau of Engraving & Printing in the US.
