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It wasn't long after the first U.S. postage stamp
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was issued before a counterfeit showed up.
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Postal Inspectors put a stop to that early fraud
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and have been battling counterfeits ever since.
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Today, the number of counterfeit stamps
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being sold from online platforms has exploded.
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Scammers pedal fake stamps on the internet,
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often at huge discounts of up to 50%.
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That's a sure sign that the stamps are bogus.
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Now we are seeing counterfeit postage labels
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appearing on packages tied  in with reshipping scams.
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Here a victim is offered a job
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where they receive packages at their home.
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Then they reship the items  which are often stolen goods.
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Here's the newest twist -
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the company electronically provides the  victim with postage labels to print.
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So let's think about this.
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Why would a company send merchandise to you
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with postage paid mailing labels
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and ask you to remail the packages?
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Wouldn't a legitimate company  just mail the packages
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directly and cut out the middleman?
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This doesn't make a whole lot of sense
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when you think about it.
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And those postage labels,
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they're counterfeit.
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Don't get caught up in a scam like this.
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Dealing in stolen merchandise is a crime.
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Using counterfeit mailing labels is another crime.
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Save yourself a lot of headaches.
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Stay away from both.
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Counterfeit stamps sellers and vendors
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using counterfeit postage can  be reported to Postal Inspectors
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at uspis.gov/report.