USPS faces loss with Fake Postage Stamps

USPS faces loss with Fake Postage Stamps

Counterfeiters are in un dating the US Postal Service with fake postage stamps and inspectors can't even say how bad the problem really is. "Those (fake) stamps are everywhere," said a source at the Postal Service, which reported a loss of $3.5 billion in the quarter that ended last month. That was the 14th loss in the last 16 reporting periods. Three of the six images accompanying this column are counterfeit postage stamps. Can you tell which ones? Neither can most people. If you had the actual 44-cent flag stamps in front of you, you might see that the fakes are a little more bluer and the real stamps a little bit purplish. Odd, no, that the colors of the American flag are red, white and blue - not purple! The easiest way to tell fakes from the real thing is the price. Not surprisingly, the loss-ridden Post Office doesn't offer discounts. But our fake stamps were purchased on the streets of Queens recently for 34 cents apiece.
A hundred-roll of stamps went for $34, compared with the $44 that the real things would set you back. The counterfeiters also give a discount for bulk purchases -- if you buy a thousand stamps the price goes down to 29 cents apiece. "If you are not paying full price," says one Postal source, "you know they are stolen or fake." There is one other obvious difference between the real and fake postage. The real stamps come in a continuous roll of 100. The fakes are rolled up like the real things but when uncoiled you'll see that they are in several sections -- each of which seems only as long as the biggest piece of photographic paper on the consumer market. The counterfeiters also make their stamps self-adhesive for consumer convenience. But you may have to move around the city from spot to spot before large quantities of the fake stamps are put in your possession -- in what looks like a security measure used by the counterfeiters to avoid Postal inspectors. But the counterfeiters apparently don't have much to worry about.
Detecting fake 44-cent stamps is way down on the list of things overworked Postal inspectors are concerned about. "They'll crack down more on those tending to be higher quantity mailers," said a Postal source, and not folks trying to slip an envelope or two through without paying.
Helping the counterfeiters even more is the fact that the number of Postal inspectors is way down and things like suspicious packages are much higher in priority.
And although counterfeiting (and even using) fake stamps is a federal offense, it is not the sort of crime that gets prosecutors' hearts racing. Sources say the buyers of large amounts of fake stamps often sell smaller quantities to bodegas and other places that deal directly with regular consumers. And these stores often mark up the price of stamps above the original 44 cents.
How would these stores know they are selling fake stamps? If they didn't pay the Post Office's rate of 44 cents apiece they are counterfeit. But even this isn't foolproof since counterfeiters could easily up their price to 44 cents to make their product look legit -- and achieve a higher profit margin in the process. And the bad guys lucked out recently when a request by the Postal Service for a rate increase was turned down. If postage for a regular envelope had risen from 44 cents, the counterfeiters would have had to copy a new stamp or produce a whole batch of low-profit penny postage to keep their 44 cent fakes in demand. The Post Office says there are ways for its processing machines to catch fakes, although it wouldn't tell me how. There doesn't appear to be anything unique with the paper on which the stamps are printed -- no imbedded fibers or 3-D images like on paper currency. But Postal machines might shine ultraviolet light on the stamps to detect fakes. The trouble is, even if fakes are detected Postal officials have to decide whether to let suspicious envelopes through or stop the cancellation process. That would also slow down thousands of envelopes with legitimate postage and make the Post Office even less efficient.

source-NewYork Post