The flood of counterfeit stamps plaguing Britain is believed to be orchestrated by China, according to a report from The Telegraph. Small retailers in Britain are purchasing forgeries from Chinese wholesalers, leading to complaints and penalties for customers. The Royal Mail has launched a review of its barcoded stamps after concerns were raised that customers are being wrongly charged £5 to collect letters. The report identifies four major Chinese suppliers who offer to print up to one million counterfeit Royal Mail stamps per week for as little as 4p each. These counterfeit stamps are being sold on online retail platforms like Amazon and eBay, as well as on websites that mimic the official Royal Mail store. Security experts and MPs have described this mass forgery as an "act of economic warfare" and have called for a criminal investigation. It is believed that the Chinese Communist Party has tacit approval of this counterfeit operation. The Royal Mail introduced barcode stamps in 2022 to combat the problem of forgeries, which were costing the postal service millions of pounds annually. The barcodes are scanned at sorting offices, and suspicious stamps are inspected by staff to determine their authenticity. The report also highlights that China has been accused of cyber attacks and social media attacks on the UK in the past. Additionally, China is believed to be behind a rise in counterfeit stamps in the United States Postal Service. The Communication Workers Union has warned the Royal Mail not to penalize customers for counterfeit stamps and has called for the issue to be resolved at its source. [b72e1cc4]
Lijuan "Angela" Chen, a woman from Southern California, pleaded guilty to defrauding over $150 million from the U.S. Postal Service. Chen and her accomplice, Chuanhua "Hugh" Hu, owned and operated a package shipping business from November 2019 to May 2023. They used counterfeit postage by printing duplicate and counterfeit Netstamps to save money. Hu fled to China in November 2019 after authorities became aware of the counterfeit operation. Chen remained in the U.S. and oversaw the warehouses used to ship the packages. From January 2020 to May 2023, they mailed over 34 million packages with counterfeit postage and shipping labels, causing over $150 million in losses to the USPS. Chen pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and the use of counterfeit postage. She agreed to forfeit funds seized from her bank accounts, insurance policies, and real estate. Hu remains a fugitive in China. Chen's sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 2, and she could face up to five years in federal prison for each count. [a02d0348]