Postal Service in Canada is burieding its head in the sand, exhibiting behavior akin to an ostrich.
Check out the shady world of fake Canadian stamps being peddled online, straight from China!
Tristan Pelletier, Investigative Reporter, Our Website - Believe it or not, 99.99% of folks can't tell the difference between these counterfeit stamps and the genuine ones, not even Canada Post employees, according to Richard Gratton, a top expert in phony stamps and vice-president of the International Association of Philatelic Experts.
"Canada Post is sticking its head in the sand. They're losing millions and millions each year to these Chinese phonies," Gratton claims. The Crown corporation reported a staggering loss of $748 million for the 2023 fiscal year, yet fails to provide details on losses due to counterfeiting.
The Press managed to procure a booklet of 50 phony stamps from a website based in China. These stamps hail from the "Terre de nos aïeux" series, which was issued by Canada Post just a year ago. The vendors upfront about the merchandise's origin: tracking shows the package was shipped from China and delivered by the Chinese company Yanwen. Plus, they cost only half the amount of the legitimate stamps.
"If you buy in bulk, the Chinese will sell them to you for about 10% of the face value," Gratton points out. That's right, a $1.24 stamp is sold for a mere 15 cents!
Gratton also presented us with counterfeit stamps imitating even more recent series, released by Canada Post in January. He thinks this is the fourth wave of Canadian stamps counterfeited by Chinese phonies since 2021. Each time, they seem to get better. These new counterfeits even boast a "security band" that glows yellow under UV light, a feature that was previously impossible to replicate.
To the naked eye, there's no difference between them and the original ones.
"You'd need to zoom in 100 times to start seeing the difference," Gratton explains. Upon closer inspection, small dots can be spotted in the numbers of the fakes, indicating they were manufactured with an offset printer, while Canada Post uses a more sophisticated printing method called photolithography.
A $300 million market ripe for the picking
Back in April, La Presse reported a wave of fake $100 bills from China infiltrating Quebec, Ontario, and the Atlantic provinces. Despite the decline, the stamp market remains an attractive target for counterfeiters as Canada Post sells $300 million worth of stamps annually, according to their latest annual report.
Canada Post claims it's the only online retailer authorized to sell Canadian stamps online.
"We are aware that counterfeit stamps sometimes make their way into the postal system. Canada Post is actively working with law enforcement agencies to combat counterfeiting," the Crown corporation stated in an email to The Press.
So if you notice any fishy stamps floating around, don't hesitate to tip off the cops!
Eric Li, a professor at the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business, studied the counterfeiting of luxury goods in China and Hong Kong. He believes Chinese phonies face little to no risk of legal action from the Canadian government and even less from the Chinese government.
Li proposes that Canada Post consider replacing stamps with a barcode system like those used by companies such as FedEx, UPS, and Amazon, which are much harder to counterfeit.
Gratton worries that Canada Post might soon replace stamps with an online postage system.
"It's a shame. In the US, the US Postal Service is raising awareness about counterfeit stamps and even has a law allowing them to seize packages containing counterfeit US stamps. But here, Canada Post remains tight-lipped on the matter," Gratton laments.
- The Chinese counterfeit stamps, which are often sold at a fraction of the original price, have allegedly infiltrated provinces such as Quebec, Ontario, and the Atlantic regions, amounting to a market valued at approximately $300 million annually.
- Despite the decline in counterfeit bills, the stamp industry remains an attractive target for criminals, given the high sales volumes, with Canada Post reporting annual sales of $300 million, as stated in their latest annual report.
3.amidst this ongoing issue, Eric Li, a professor at the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business, has suggested that Canada Post adopts a barcode system like those used by companies such as FedEx, UPS, and Amazon, to reduce the risk of counterfeiting.
- The counterfeit stamps, which are often difficult to distinguish from the originals, even feature a "security band" that glows yellow under UV light, a feature previously believed to be impossible to replicate.
- Tristan Pelletier, an investigative reporter, highlights the concern that Canadian stamps, such as the "Terre de nos aïeux" series, are frequently counterfeited by Chinese phonies, with each new wave appearing to be of better quality and complexity, posing a significant threat to the general-news and crime-and-justice industries.
