Royal Mail has recently made the decision to suspend the imposition of £5 fines on recipients of mail containing counterfeit stamps after facing a notable rise in fake stamps, mainly coming from China. Customers unknowingly collecting post with bogus stamps have complained about being penalized for something they were unaware of, leading to concerns over the authenticity of stamps in circulation.
To combat the issue, Royal Mail is rolling out various measures. These include the development of a new counterfeit stamp scanner within their app to allow customers to verify the authenticity of barcodes. Additionally, stickers will now be affixed to items with fraudulent stamps to alert recipients, and efforts will be strengthened to hold senders accountable for items bearing counterfeit stamps rather than the recipients facing fines. The influx of fraudulent stamps from China has been a significant source of discontent, with allegations of economic warfare arising due to the purported inundation of millions of counterfeit stamps into Britain. The problem escalated following the shift to barcoded stamps last July, with reports indicating that small retailers were unwittingly purchasing large quantities of forgeries.
In response to mounting concerns, Royal Mail is ramping up its actions. They are bringing in an independent expert to authenticate stamps and enhancing collaborations with retailers and online platforms to combat the sale of fake stamps. Although there have been reports of Chinese suppliers offering to produce counterfeit Royal Mail stamps, the Chinese embassy in London has refuted these allegations as “absurd.” Nick Landon, Royal Mail’s chief commercial officer, emphasized the positive impact of the new barcoded stamps with additional security features and highlighted a 90% reduction in counterfeit stamps. Landon also stressed the importance of customers buying stamps with confidence from reputable sources and discouraged online purchases unless from the official Royal Mail shop.