200,000 fake US postage stamps -- worth over $100,000 -- seized in Alabama, officials say

Natalie Demaree, The Charlotte Observer on Feb 24, 2025

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Thousands of counterfeit forever stamps were blocked from entering postal circulation by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Alabama, officials said.

A total of 200,000 postage stamps worth $146,000 from Hong Kong were seized after an inspection determined the stamps were fake, according to a Feb. 21 CBP news release.

The batch included rolls of the Flag Stamp, which according to the United States Postal Inspection Service is the most frequently seen counterfeit stamp.

About a week earlier, Customs and Border Protections officers stopped eight shipments of 161,860 fraudulent U.S. forever stamps, worth more than $118,000, officials said in a Feb. 13 news release.

“CBP has seen a real uptick in counterfeit U.S. Postal Service postage stamps especially around the holidays to include high volume card holidays like Valentine’s Day,” officials said in the release.

In fiscal year 2024, 90% of items violating Intellectual Property Right laws seized by CBP came from China and Hong Kong, CBP officials said.

Counterfeit stamps tend to be sold in bulk and discounted between 20 and 50 percent of their face value, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The Postal Inspection Service also advises all senders to purchase their postage from approved vendors to ensure it’s real.

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