The Royal Mail and The Post Office – Counterfeit Stamps - April 2024
We contacted The Post Office and it said:
Stamps are available to buy from a number of different sources. Post Office Ltd receives its stamps direct from Royal Mail’s secure printers. Customers who buy stamps at Post Offices are given an itemised receipt, and this is required by Post Office to investigate any allegations of fake stamps.
The Postmaster recalls swapping some stamps for a customer who wanted Christmas stamps. These stamps accepted by the Postmaster, were then sold in good faith and we believe this is how this customer ended up with fake stamps on this occasion.
No Post Office should swap stamps as only Royal Mail can swap stamps. Royal Mail has trained experts who can identify fake stamps and no one at any Post Office would recognise counterfeit stamps as the fake stamps in circulation are very sophisticated. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to this customer and offer the customer a ‘gesture of goodwill’ as a valued customer. We will also issue another reminder to all of our branches that no stamps can be swapped at a Post Office under any circumstance.
We contacted Royal Mail and it said:
The two anonymous stamps sent in – one was correctly identified as counterfeit by us and your expert. The other was incorrectly identified as counterfeit by us and for this we apologise.
Royal Mail takes the illegal production of counterfeit stamps seriously. It added that Royal Mail also recognise the inconvenience and financial loss incurred by our customers who believe they are purchasing legitimate Royal Mail stamps.
To tackle the production of counterfeit stamps, where appropriate, Royal Mail said it will investigate further and liaise with law enforcement authorities.
It said it regularly monitors to detect suspicious activity, such as sales of heavily discounted stamps.
Royal Mail said that it has a robust, multistage process in place when assessing whether barcoded stamps are genuine. This includes a thorough examination using specialist equipment, then a follow up inspection by a skilled member of the team before any stamp is marked as counterfeit or pre-used.
Royal Mail said it will always happily review individual cases and if an error has been made then we will of course correct it.
Any customer who believes they have been incorrectly surcharged can send the envelope with the barcoded stamp attached to us, along with location of where the stamp was purchased. It is added that it is vital that Royal Mail can investigate any instance where a person believes their stamps have been incorrectly identified as counterfeit or pre-used.
If customers are unhappy with the result of our investigation into their complaint, they can appeal via the Postal Review Panel. The Postal Review Panel is an independent body that can review complaints from customers who have used a Royal Mail service.
In regards envelope sent to your expert, we do not believe the surcharge relates to the 2nd class barcoded stamp. That stamp is genuine.
We believe the surcharge relates only to the 1st class red definitive stamp. As I have previously explained, the stamp bore all the signs of being re-used – it was applied to a piece of card, glued on to the envelope and has had the perforations cut off.
As well as bearing indicators of being re-used, our investigations have found the red 1st class stamp, issued in 1993, has a number of indicators which would lead our Revenue Protection Team to categorise the stamp as counterfeit. These include issues with the iridescence and the phosphor. Due to these anomalies, the stamp was, unfortunately, identified as counterfeit and so attracted the £2.50 surcharge.
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