By James Simons-
Pakistan’s cybercrime authorities have arrested a man accused of running a counterfeit postage operation that allegedly cost the United States Postal Service (USPS) $126 million (£94 million) in lost revenue and shipping costs.
Faheem Akram, 33, from Khanewal, Pakistan, is accused of operating a fraudulent online business that sold counterfeit US postage and shipping labels to thousands of customers. The website, LabelsBank.com, allegedly enabled buyers to ship packages at prices far below legitimate postal rates, leaving the US Postal Service to bear the resulting losses.
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According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, Akram allegedly operated the scheme from 2023, selling fake postage labels at a fixed price regardless of a parcel’s weight, size or destination. The labels were reportedly sold for around $2 each, offering customers a cheaper alternative to legitimate postage while allegedly defrauding the postal service of the appropriate shipping fees.
The scale of the alleged operation emerged during an investigation, which found that more than 5,200 individuals had purchased over 5.1 million counterfeit shipping labels. US prosecutors allege that the scheme generated substantial losses by allowing packages to enter the postal system without the payment of the correct postage.
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Akram was indicted by a federal grand jury in Florida last month on multiple charges connected to the alleged operation. Authorities have since shut down LabelsBank.com, while the US Postal Inspection Service had earlier offered a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to his arrest.
The charges against Akram include one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to make and sell counterfeit postage stamps, five counts of making and selling counterfeit postage stamp labels, and four counts of wire fraud.
If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy and counterfeit postage offences, as well as up to 20 years for each wire fraud count, according to the US Attorney’s Office. These are maximum potential penalties, and any sentence would depend on the outcome of the case and applicable sentencing rules.
The case highlights the growing challenges facing postal authorities as online platforms are allegedly used to distribute counterfeit shipping products on a large scale. By selling postage labels at prices far below official rates, fraudulent operators can attract customers seeking cheaper delivery while potentially exposing them to invalid postage and shifting costs onto postal services.
For the US Postal Service, the alleged losses illustrate the financial consequences of counterfeit postage schemes, particularly when millions of labels are distributed through a single online operation. The investigation also demonstrates the international dimension of such cases, with US prosecutors pursuing allegations involving a Pakistani national and a website used to sell counterfeit products to American customers.
Akram’s arrest marks a significant development in the investigation, but the allegations have yet to be proven in court. The case will now turn on the legal proceedings and whether prosecutors can establish the charges against him.
The wider context makes this case particularly significant: US authorities have identified counterfeit postage as a much broader financial threat to the postal service, with other investigations involving losses exceeding $100 million. The case against Faheem Akram is therefore not an isolated example, but part of a growing effort to tackle fraudulent shipping labels, fake stamps and online schemes that undermine postal revenue.
According to the US Postal Service Office of Inspector General, an audit published in September 2026 estimated that counterfeit postage labels cost the service approximately $1.6 billion in lost revenue during the 2025 financial year. The audit also identified weaknesses in the detection and interception of fraudulent labels, highlighting the difficulty of stopping invalid postage from entering the delivery network.
A similar case illustrates the scale of the problem. The US Postal Inspection Service reported that Young Jiang and Lijuan “Angela” Chen were responsible for more than $171 million in losses linked to counterfeit postage labels. Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy-related offences, with Jiang sentenced to eight months in prison and Chen receiving a two-and-a-half-year sentence in July 2026. The case demonstrates that counterfeit postage operations can generate losses
The authorities have also warned consumers against buying heavily discounted stamps or shipping labels from unfamiliar websites and online marketplaces. The Postal Inspection Service says counterfeit postage is advertised through social media, e-commerce platforms and other websites, while investigators work with online platforms to identify sellers and seize domains linked to suspected fraud. Customers who use fake labels may find that parcels are delayed or not delivered, even if they believed they had purchased legitimate postage.
In Akram’s case, investigators in Pakistan said the alleged operation ran from August 2023 to September 2026 and involved 16 bank accounts held by Akram and members of his family, according to
The case now highlights two connected challenges for law enforcement: pursuing alleged online fraud across international borders and strengthening the systems used to detect counterfeit postage before millions of parcels enter the delivery network. Akram has been charged, but the allegations remain unproven, and he is presumed innocent unless convicted in court.
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