Britain is allegedly being “flooded” with counterfeit Royal Mail stamps from China, according to a newspaper investigation.
Sources close to Royal Mail said fakes from the Asian country were causing a rise in complaints that stamps bought from legitimate stores were being deemed fraudulent, which can result in a £5 penalty, The Telegraph reported.
It comes a week after the publisher revealed Royal Mail is investigating claims that people have been wrongly fined after being sent letters with new barcoded stamps that were deemed to be counterfeit.
Royal Mail fake stamps found on Amazon and eBay
Did you know that you can set a Safeplace for your deliveries in the Royal Mail App?
— Royal Mail (@RoyalMail) April 10, 2024
Download our app at: https://t.co/E2wfMul6H4 pic.twitter.com/wJIYN0wyfs
The Telegraph identified four Chinese suppliers offering to print up to one million counterfeit Royal Mail stamps a week.
These stamps are being sold for as little as 4p each ahead of delivery to the UK.
It has also claimed the fakes have been found on Amazon and eBay and websites copying the Royal Mail official store.
The Telegraph understands these stamps are being bought unknowingly by small retailers, who are allowed to buy stamps from wholesalers rather than from Royal Mail directly.
Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake told the Daily Mail: “It is key to prevent counterfeit stamps entering our supply chain in the UK.
“The Royal Mail must do everything possible to prevent counterfeits entering our circulation and must establish where they are coming from and how they are entering our marketplace.
The Times reported that a spokesman from the Chinese Embassy in London called the claims “absurd”.
He said: “It is totally ridiculous, absurd and ill-intentional. How could one imagine a sovereign country triggers war by bringing fake stamps?
“If this case really happened, (the) first thing to do is to have (a) thorough investigation over the internal supply chain, instead of pursuing the attention of (the) media.”
Recommended reading:
- Royal Mail investigating barcode stamps as public hit with fines
- How can you tell if a Royal Mail stamp is fake? Expert shares counterfeit signs
- Royal Mail launches special stamps to mark 100th anniversary
Changes in TV Licence Fees Over the Years
A Royal Mail spokesman told PA: “We are working hard to remove counterfeit stamps from circulation.
“We regularly monitor online marketplaces to detect suspicious activity, such as sales of heavily discounted stamps and work closely with retailers and law enforcement agencies to identify those who produce counterfeit stamps.
“We work closely with a number of police forces across the country and in recent cases we have recovered stamps with a retail value of over £250,000.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel