Counterfeit Forever Stamps

"Since April 2013, the postal auctions have been held online and include not only material lost in the U.S. but also material from other national postal authorities who consign them to the USPS for auction."

I'm surprised this is even allowed since there are tons of ID theft concerns and privacy concerns. Or do they open everything and only auction off any merch that is found?

I believe that is a person that is mailing large amounts will be investigated. I can not see the postal inspectors targeting anyone that may use a single stamp. They are not time enuff to prosecute the small fry. It is best not to use counterfit postage as it is illegal. You need to buy your stamps from the post office or authorized vender.

As to auctions held I do not know anything. I personally may be interested in buying a lot or two. If I do I will post what I was able to find. You can gamble with the lottery or slots. Buying a lot at auction would be such a gamble.

I can not see any collector value in counterfeits. I see several has posted about this in the past. I believe the any reason for collecting counterfeits would be for reference. Then you can check to see if a stamp is genuine.

I do not see why Scott's list modern counterfeits. I can see the collectable older issues. They all come with a story of who and when to accompanying. This would be part of postal history the darker side. Also with the older counterfeits you would have reference to identify genuine stamps. I also can see someone filling a space with a replica ( which should be marked clearly on the back). No one wants an empty space. Sometime are out of the price range for the collectors. If you can not afford a space filler or one is not available. I can see one buying such replicas. I make a marked differance to replicas and counterfeits. Replicas are made for the use of the hobby to fill those spots. A counterfeit is made to steal the service it was intended to be used for. Replicas were never intended to deceive unlike counterfeits. I will also add replicas without the notation of being so should not be allowed. They could deceive an unlearned collector. This then would make the replica a counterfit. The counterfit ( replica unmarked ) then would be made to deceive and not a purpose they were intended for.

They only auction off the merchandise. Any cash they find goes back to the Federal Government. Pornography, firearms, marijuana and other drugs are destroyed. Gift cards continue to be problematic, they are not auctioned off. I think they destroy them.

In 2002, the Topek Kansas Dead Letter Office opened a parcel and found what appeared to be Marc Chagall 8-by-10-inch painting "Study for 'Over Vitebsk". It was found to be an original stolen from a museum and it was returned to Israel by the USPS.
Don

Thanks for the clarification.

Someone I know recently purchased a couple of Disney Villain stamp sheets and he and I both in agreement that these might be counterfeit. The date one isn't marked which it is but the lowered "2017" is the questionable sheet. The seller insists they are genuine, but purchaser strongly believes otherwise.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

kamielion

I have a confirmed counterfeit of the Disney Villain stamp sheet. Indeed, the 2017 is lowered as you show. And yes, the "forever" has sharper edges on the counterfeit than the USPS production.

Another thing you will notice is that, under magnification, the dot patterns are different. On the USPS printings, the dots for different colors do not align. On the counterfeit, they do align.

And, the perforations on the counterfeit are a bit more pointy on the counterfeit than on the original.

I'm going to agree with you this sheet is counterfeit, as your counterfeit matches mine in all these aspects.

alub,

Thank you so much for your speedy reply on this! We appreciate the input and will act accordingly!

From where?

My wife and I like to snoop around on Facebook marketplace as we have several decorating projects ongoing. I see copious offers for forever stamps on Facebook, I would say at least 20 or 25 this past week. Is all this material coming from Asia/ Australia? It's strange that seemingly no government or law enforcement entities are really overseeing any of this.

The bottom sheet is counterfeit; the die cut pattern is not right. The die cuts on the genuine sheets are all identical, but on the counterfeits they are not.

gvol21 posted.....

"Not sure why they just don't make it illegal to purchase forever stamps at less than face value. Violators will be prosecuted, etc."

Well, I think it would be easier to make SELLING the stamps illegal......how would they catch all those folks buying? Travelling goons kicking in doors all day?
Once again honest folks off the street don't know if something is counterfeit, and will get prosecuted. Kind of like buying cheaper knock off rolex, sunglasses, etc. Go after the BAD guys not the guy who's trying to run his business cheaper because of govt inflation.....and NO, I don't run a business, nor do I buy underpriced forever stamps, I get mine from the "cave" or the post office. If they continually want to go after people who have counterfeit stamps, some collectors are eventually going down...because I think a lot of you have counterfeits in your collections and probably don't even realize it. What does the fbi, secret service and USPS say about that stuff hidden away in collections? One of my clubs has had many a debate over the legality of ownership of counterfeit stamps in a collection....anyone know the answer to that? I dont.

It always comes back to Washington taking on China in a big and forceful way on counterfeiting, fentanyl, intellectual property theft etc. It is not being done and we are in a weak position given that China is where the materials and batteries come from for the EV push and is also where most of our critical supplies originate. Antibiotics, cancer medications and everything else is coming from the very Country that wants to eliminate us as a world power. Not to mention that most of Washington is in China's pocket. You will never solve the counterfeit stamp problem by picking off small sellers or even bigger sellers for that matter let alone buyers. The manufacturers are sitting in China with the blessing of the CCP printing their brains out.

Rodgcam - BINGO......(I was trying to stay out of that very arena)

Does anybody know if the web site "Forever Stamps Shop" sells legitimate, authentic stamps? They claim their stock is not counterfeit, but the prices are so low, I think their stock must be counterfeit. Please reply to forum. Thanks!