First-class postage, currently priced at $0.73, will rise starting in July 2025, with additional hikes every January and July through 2027. All changes must receive regulatory approval before taking effect.
Thousands of counterfeit stamps were seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) last weekend at the Chicago International Mail Branch.
The CBP announced Thursday that eight shipments of "Forever Stamps" from China containing 161,860 stamps were confiscated. They were said to have been violating trademark laws and deemed fake "based on the very low invoice value, the routing, and the extraordinary efforts undertaken to conceal the stamps."
The federal agency said that the stamps were poor quality, but that counterfeits are improving and may not have been recognizable for some consumers. If genuine, the fraudulent stamps were of roughly $118,000 in value, the CBP said.
"Counterfeiters only care about making a profit. They don't care about the effect that fake postage has on your ability to send important mail and overall impacts the U.S. economy," said LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, director for field operations in Chicago. "Our officers and specialists are some of the most highly trained in the nation, and their level of expertise is evident with these seizures. CBP officers were able to identify these very realistic counterfeits and stop them from reaching their destinations."
The CBP said there has been a rise in counterfeit stamps recently, especially around the holidays.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
