Pakistan Arrests Man Accused of $126 Million US Postal Fraud

Pakistan’s cybercrime agency has arrested a man US authorities had been seeking in connection with a counterfeit postage operation that prosecutors say cost the US Postal Service $126 million (£94 million).

Faheem Akram, 33, from Khanewal, is accused of selling fake stamps through a fraudulent US-facing website since 2023. A federal grand jury in Florida indicted him last month, alleging that he sold more than five million counterfeit shipping labels to thousands of American customers over the years. The website at the center of the case—LabelsBank.com—has now been shut down, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

Prosecutors say Akram operated LabelsBank.com and sold counterfeit US postage at a flat rate, no matter a package’s weight, size or destination. The labels, usually priced at $2 each, allegedly allowed customers to ship parcels at rates far below legitimate prices—resulting in substantial lost revenue and added shipping costs for the Postal Service. 

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An investigation found that more than 5,200 people bought over 5.1 million counterfeit shipping labels, the office said in a press release. Earlier this month, the US Postal Inspection Service offered a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to Akram’s arrest.

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. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy and counterfeit postage counts, and 20 years on each wire fraud count, prosecutors said.