A Lesson with US Postal Inspectors
During COVID, I discovered wonderful presentations offered by the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. The topics have been varied and incredibly interesting. This recent one really didn't apply to me but I've been so intrigued before, I signed up and was happy I did.
For an hour, I joined six United States Postal Inspectors for a discussion of their investigations into scams targeting collectors of baseball cards, autographs, jerseys, and other sports memorabilia. The market for sports memorabilia is a growing multi-billion-dollar industry in the United States. Unfortunately, fraudsters find ways to forge the signatures of sports heroes and sell counterfeit collectibles of favorite teams. During the evening program, the various Postal Inspectors showed how to confidently navigate the market with consumer protection tips drawn from their work on true crime cases which they shared. Interesting, right?
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I learned that when these scammers ship their merchandise or exchange payment through the mail, they’ve committed mail fraud. The USPS Inspection Service investigates and responds to criminal activity that uses the U.S. Postal Service. Postal inspectors respond to reports of suspect baseball collectibles advertised, sold, or shipped in the U.S. mail, and the case investigations can help consumers look for signs of potential scams.
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Some fakes are pretty easy to see. Faron Asham's name is mounted upside down. Hysterical.
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I was really hoping that my area of mail fraud concern would be addressed. At the conclusion, there was a Q & A giving me the opportunity to discuss one of my greatest pet peeves- Counterfeit USPS stamps. If you see, online, Forever stamps greatly discounted, they are fakes. The postal service does not discount stamps (except at Costco where you can save 40¢ on a roll of 100). The number of counterfeit stamps being sold from online platforms has escalated. Scammers peddle fake stamps on social media marketplaces, e-commerce sites via third party vendors, and other websites. Counterfeit stamps are often sold in bulk quantities at a significant discount–anywhere from 20 to 50 percent of their face value. That’s a tell-tale sign they’re bogus. USPS is fighting back against counterfeit postage. With new changes to the Domestic Mail Manual, items mailed with counterfeit postage will be considered abandoned and are subject to being opened and disposed of at the Postal Service's discretion. Make sure your postage is legitimate and always purchase from USPS or an authorized retailer. This thievery makes the rule followers have to pay more to mail our postal love notes. It you see one of these fake, though at times very authentic looking discounted ad, USPS has asked us to report them at PostageFraudReporting@uspis.gov.
"The Postal Service exists to serve every American,
regardless of where you live or what you believe."
-Conor Lamb
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