Royal Mail launches barcode scanner within its app to detect counterfeit stamps

Customers simply need to scan a stamp’s barcode using the app to find out if it’s fake or the real

Royal Mail has stepped up its fight against stamp fraudsters with a scanner within its app to check for counterfeit stamps.

Customers simply need to scan a stamp’s barcode using the app to find out if it’s fake or the real. The company advises stamp buyers who’ve sourced their stamps from places other than Royal Mail, the Post Office, or trusted high street shops to give them a quick scan before use.

In response to the ongoing counterfeit stamp issue, Royal Mail has declared it will keep scrapping the £5 penalties usually imposed on recipients of mail bearing fake stamps, aiming instead to go after the senders. It also announced it has appointed an independent arbitrator in cases requiring resolution involving the £5 surcharge.

This will involve the arbitrator examining the physical stamp identified by Royal Mail as being counterfeit. Customers cannot send their stamps directly to the arbitrator without first going through the Royal Mail complaints process. Royal Mail’s chief commercial officer Nick Landon said: “We continue to do all we can to protect our customers from the scourge of counterfeit stamps, and since introducing barcoded stamps we have reduced the number of counterfeit stamps in our network by around 90%.”

“The new counterfeit stamp scanner on the Royal Mail app will help prevent customers inadvertently falling victim to stamp fraud. We want our customers to buy stamps with confidence and always recommend that customers only purchase stamps from Post Offices and other reputable retailers or the official Royal Mail shop.”

In April, The Daily Telegraph spotlighted an alleged flood of counterfeit Royal Mail stamps originating from China onto UK shores. The paper highlighted that insiders linked to Royal Mail have observed a spike in complaints about supposedly legitimate stamps procured from reputable vendors being flagged as fakes, which could incur a £5 fine.

The investigation pinpointed four Chinese outfits purportedly ready to produce upwards of one million imitation Royal Mail stamps weekly, slashing prices down to a mere 4p apiece before dispatch to the UK market. Moreover, these fake stamps were reportedly discovered on online platforms such as Amazon and eBay, as well as sites imitating the official Royal Mail web store.

The Telegraph gathered insights suggesting that small-scale British retailers, often purchasing stamps via wholesalers rather than directly from Royal Mail, might be acquiring these counterfeits unwittingly. In response to the allegations, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London dismissed them as “absurd”.