Almost 162,000 counterfeit U.S. forever stamps seized in Chicago

By Linn’s Staff

United States Customs and Border Protection officers at the international mail branch in Chicago, Ill., seized eight shipments containing 161,860 counterfeit U.S. forever stamps during the weekend of Feb. 8-9.

According to a Feb. 13 Customs and Border Protection press release, “All the parcels were arriving from China and if genuine, face value would be over $118,000.”

The stamps were seized for violating trademark laws, Customs and Border Protection said.

“These stamps were determined to be counterfeit based on the very low invoice value, the routing, and the extraordinary efforts undertaken to conceal the stamps,” according to Customs and Border Protection.

LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, director of Field Operations-Chicago for Customs and Border Protection, said: “Counterfeiters only care about making a profit. They don’t care about the effect that fake postage has on your ability to send important mail and overall impacts the U.S. economy. Our officers and specialists are some of the most highly trained in the nation, and their level of expertise is evident with these seizures.”

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