U.S. terminates website that sold $126M in phony postage labels
U.S. postal police have seized a web site that peddled phony postage labels at a discount, costing the Postal Service $126 million. The post U.S. terminates website that sold $126M in phony postage labels appeared first on FreightWaves .
U.S. authorities dismantled a fraudulent website accused of selling counterfeit U.S. Postal Service postage labels, resulting in losses exceeding $126 million. Pakistani national Faheem Akram, 33, operated the domain LabelsBank.com, which allegedly sold over 5 million fake postage labels at a fixed rate of $2 per label, regardless of weight, size or destination.
The counterfeit labels enabled customers to ship packages at significantly reduced prices, causing substantial financial losses for the U.S. Postal Service. The website was seized due to Akram's indictment on conspiracy to defraud the United States, making and selling counterfeit postage stamps, and wire fraud. FBI agents and postal inspectors discovered that over 5,000 customers used LabelsBank.com to purchase more than 5.1 million counterfeit shipping labels.
The Postal Inspection Service warns that purchasing stamps from third-party wholesalers or online websites is risky, as there is no way to verify their authenticity, potentially costing mailers significant sums.
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