authorities acting on intelligence have arrested a man accused of running an online counterfeit postage operation that US prosecutors say caused more than US$126mil (RM513mil) in losses to the US Postal Service, Pakistan’s cybercrime investigation agency said.
Faheem Akram, 33, was arrested after a weekslong search involving raids across several parts of the country, a senior official at the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency, Atif Ameer, told reporters.
Faheem, a resident of Khanewal in eastern Punjab province, was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida, the US Attorney’s Office for the district said in a Sept 28 statement.
The office alleged that Faheem operated LabelsBank.com, an unauthorised website that sold more than 5.1 million counterfeit postage labels to more than 5,200 customers.
The labels typically cost US$2 (RM8.15) each, regardless of a package’s weight, size or destination.
The counterfeit labels allowed customers to ship packages at prices far below legitimate postal rates, resulting in lost revenue and shipping costs for the Postal Service, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
Its estimate of more than US$126mil represents alleged losses to the US Postal Service rather than proceeds from the website’s sales.
The Postal Service has warned of an increase in such counterfeit postage scams in recent years, with scammers selling fake stamps on social media marketplaces, e-commerce platforms and other websites.
Scammers are also using counterfeit postage to ship stolen goods, according to the agency.
Last September, it launched an online reporting system for suspected counterfeit stamp and postage fraud.
Pakistani investigators found that Faheem operated the website from August 2023 through September 2026 and used 16 bank accounts for the business.
Those included accounts held by Faheem, his brother, wife, sister and aunt.
It was unclear whether Faheem would be extradited to the United States or face trial in Pakistan. — AP
