Alleged $126 Million Fake-Postage Scheme: How One Website Sold Millions of Bogus Shipping Labels

Photo via The Times of India

A federal case out of Florida is a fresh reminder of how online scams can quietly grow into enormous alleged losses. Prosecutors say 33-year-old Pakistani national Faheem Akram ran LabelsBank.com, a website investigators say was never authorized to sell official mailing products, and sold what they describe as counterfeit labels for a flat fee of about two dollars each — no matter a package’s weight, size, or destination.

A simple idea with a massive reach

According to court records, buyers used the allegedly fake postage to ship packages at far below legitimate rates, leaving the Postal Service to absorb the difference. Investigators estimate that more than 5,200 people bought over 5.1 million of the suspect labels, producing alleged losses to USPS of more than $126 million.

U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida described the alleged operation as simple but huge: sell bogus postage online at fixed bargain prices so customers could dodge legitimate mailing charges. Federal authorities have since shut the website down, seized the domain, and brought charges against the alleged operator, a Pakistani national.

$100,000 reward for information

Quiñones later announced on social media that the U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to Akram’s arrest and conviction. Anyone with tips is asked to call postal inspectors at 1-877-876-2455 and say “Law Enforcement” — and officials stress that no one should attempt to apprehend the accused man themselves.

The charges the accused man faces

Akram is charged with 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 — a major postal fraud prosecution built on digital evidence. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison on the conspiracy and counterfeit postage counts and up to 20 years on each wire fraud count.

Why email users should pay attention

Schemes like this one are often promoted through scam emails and phishing messages advertising impossibly cheap shipping supplies or linking to shady payment pages. Treat any unsolicited offer of discounted postage, gift cards, or delivery services as suspicious — legitimate carriers do not sell through random websites or email blasts.

Protecting yourself

Good fraud prevention starts with buying postage only through official carrier websites, apps, or retail locations, and never entering payment details on a site you reached through an unexpected message. Paying criminals for bogus labels can also expose buyers to identity theft, since these operations routinely harvest the financial information of everyone who checks out.

This prosecution is a reminder that cybercrime is not limited to inboxes and attachments — it thrives anywhere trust can be faked at scale. If a deal looks too good to be true, verify the seller through official channels before spending a dollar. (Based on reporting by The Times of India.)

Pennsylvania Man Stole 70 Cellphones in the Mail While Working at the USPS Sorting Center

A Pennsylvania man stole 70 cell phones from the United States mail while he worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Lancaster County, according to local police. Now Lamar Wilson is on the run.

Lamar Wilson; credit WGAL 8 News

Lamar Wilson Stole 70 Phones While Employee for USPS

Lamar Wilson, 44, of York, PA stole cell phones in the USPS mail system while working at the USPS Sorting Facility located on Harrisburg Pike in Manheim Township.

He used an EcoATM to sell each of the phones he stole for cash. Each transaction included a scan of his ID and photos of him and the stolen phones. The total value of the stolen phones is estimated at $36,120.

The thefts occurred between January and July 2023, when the sorting facility manager reported an increase in missing phones from the mail stream. An undercover operation tracked an iPhone shipped to an agent that was emptied at the facility and sold by the suspect.

Here's how they caught him: The Office of the Inspector General sent an iPhone to an out-of-state special agent and routed it through the facility. According to investigators, the package was empty when it arrived at its destination.

Lamar Wilson is charged with theft by unlawful taking and is on the run.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Manheim Township police at 717-569-6401 or submit a tip through CrimeWatch.

Real Life Grand Theft Auto: After a Postal Worker in Ohio is Robbed, a Crime Ring is Uncovered in Detroit

After a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) postal worker is robbed for his mailbox key, authorities find much more than just stolen mail. They find stolen cars and a crime ring in Detroit, Michigan.

A Dodge Challenger; Photo by Haidong Liang on Unsplash

Some criminals have a need for speed and get their 5 seconds of fame burning rubber before it all comes to a screeching halt over a spike strip.

Yahoo! News published a story reported by the Associated Press (AP) that all started when investigators started looking into careless thieves in the Ohio area that have a penchant for stolen cars.

Police Investigate into a Robbery and Find Much More

Police stopped Devin Rice on 31 January 2022, on suspicion of robbing a U.S. postal worker in Shaker Heights, OH for his mailbox key. They searched Rice’s car and found stolen credit and debit cards, fake checks, stolen mail, and stolen vehicles — a Dodge with a Hellcat engine, a Ram pickup truck, and a Range Rover. (Source: Yahoo!/AP)

Along with Devin Rice, Hakim Benjamin, Jaylen Harris, and Lavelle Jones were also charged with conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen vehicles, after being indicted in federal court in June 2022. All except Benjamin are also charged with mail theft and are expected to face trial in 2023. (Source: Yahoo!/AP)

After being caught, Jaylen Harris told the FBI that he and Lavelle Jones were contacting a crime ring in Detroit to get stolen vehicles and that these auto thieves “were selling to buyers in other areas, including Chicago and Indianapolis.” (Source: Yahoo!/AP)

In February 2022, Hakim Benjamin was driving a 2022 Dodge Challenger at 120 mph on Ohio State Route 2 until spike strips were laid down to stop him. Other cars with Hellcat engines have also been spotted traveling on Ohio State Route 2 at 140–150 mph that have eluded police. (Source: Yahoo!/AP)

AP spoke to Sgt. Jerry Hanna with the Macomb Auto Theft Squad.

He said:

“Thieves in the Detroit area are primarily going after Dodge vehicles with Hellcat engines, including Chargers and Challengers — ‘the fast ones.’…In the Detroit area they are selling them for like $3,500. Once they get that money in their pockets they go out and steal another one.” -Sgt. Jerry Hanna, Macomb Auto Theft Squad (Source: Yahoo!/AP)

Investigators are finding new Chargers, Challengers, and Ram pickups ending up in places like Indianapolis, Ohio, and along the East Coast at shipping ports. These stolen cars are being sold on the streets at prices between $3,500 to $15,000 USD. (Source: Yahoo!/AP)

Cars Stolen from Detroit Dealership Include Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

One example of auto theft took place in a dealership showroom northwest of Detroit, Michigan. A thief drove a Ram pickup truck straight through the showroom’s glass wall.

General manager Jeff Schneider of Szott Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Highland Township said,

“I think they were able to find some keys in a desk drawer and used them.” -Jeff Schneider, General manager of Szott Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram (Source: Yahoo!/AP)

Authorities tracked one of the stolen cars to a suburb northwest of Detroit after they crashed a $100,000 Durango SRT Hellcat into a brick wall. Police were able to recover other vehicles from the auto theft: a 2017 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, a 2021 Dodge Ram TRX, and a 2021 Dodge Durango GT.

Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat; Photo by Yahya S.,CC BY 2.0

Thieves Using Handheld ‘Pro Pads’ Can Clone Key Fobs

Some thieves are using more expensive technology, such as handheld electronic ‘pro pads,’ like what a professional locksmith could use to clone a key fob by plugging it into an internal port of a vehicle. (Source: Yahoo!/AP)

CBS 12 News reported that new truck owner Danielle Danboise parked her $75K "fully loaded" Ford Platinum diesel truck in her Port St. Lucie, Florida driveway and thieves stole it quietly without breaking glass or the alarm going off.

When she called the police to report it stolen, they informed her she wasn’t the only one that day. She was the 12th call of auto theft.

She recalled to CBS 12 News:

“Literally said you’re the 12th phone call since this morning and it’s 1 o’clock in the afternoon I’m like what? It’s insane.” -Danielle Danboise, victim of truck theft. (Source: CBS 12 News)

Port. St. Lucie Assistant Police Chief Richard Del Toro spoke with CBS12 News about the speed and sophistication of these auto thieves.

He said:

“Like I said, these are professional groups coming up here. It’s not their first rodeo. Like I said, they’re using sophisticated equipment…It’s impossible to say how each truck was taken unless it’s later found. But when police busted two Miami area men last year, they found key fobs and a tablet-looking device…We caught a couple of people that happened to have this type of technology on them and that’s why really alerted us to what was going on." -Richard Del Toro, Port. St. Lucie Assistant Police Chief (Source: CBS 12 News)

"They use the software on the tablet device to plug in underneath the dashboard, which downloads all the vehicle information and then able to program these key fobs and basically clone them.” -Richard Del Toro, Port. St. Lucie Assistant Police Chief (Source: CBS 12 News)

Sounds like technology is becoming the enemy, and criminals are embracing it.

What Will Auto Dealers do to Prevent Thefts?

What are auto dealers doing to try and slow these thefts?

In the meantime, some car dealerships have resorted to using low-tech methods of preventing auto theft of their expensive cars, such as steering wheel locks and parking boots.

In this world of technology, "low tech" is now becoming the best theft deterrent for criminals engaged in real-life Grand Theft Auto.

Sources

Loftholm, Andrew. “Gone in 60 seconds: how car thieves are cloning key fobs to steal in silence.” CBS 12 News. 24 February 2022.

Williams, Corey. “Postal worker holdup leads to muscle car theft ring arrests.” Yahoo!/AP. 16 October 2022.