"Canada Post adopts a bury-head-in-sand approach"
Sneaky Chinese Knockoffs: Counterfeit Stamps Fooling Canadians
Hey there, here's the scoop!
Who'd have thought that Chinese counterfeiters aren't just playing copycat with Canadian currency? Nope, they've got their eyes on those shiny, pretty Canadian stamps too. The Press just busted some nearly perfect replicas of recent series from Canada Post, available for a song on various Chinese shopping sites.
Tristan Pelletier, Investigative Team, Our Website chats with Richard Gratton, a stamp guru and vice-president of the International Association of Philatelic Experts: "[The fakes] are so good that 99.99% of people can't tell the difference between these stamps and the genuine ones, even people from Canada Post," he says.
But Canada Post is holding its ground, claiming losses of $748 million for the 2023 fiscal year, but offering no details on losses related to counterfeiting.
We stepped up and bought a booklet of 50 counterfeit stamps from a Chinese site, part of the "Terre de nos aïeux" series released last year by Canada Post. The sellers were as upfront about these phony stamps as an old-time gunfighter in the wild west. The tracking number screams China, shipped via Yanwen. The fakes landed via air cargo in a week, costing about half the price of the real deal.
"If you buy in bulk, the Chinese sell them at about 10% of the face value," Gratton notes. "A $1.24 stamp is sold for about 15 cents."
Gratton showed us counterfeit stamps mimicking a more recent series released by Canada Post in January. It's the fourth wave of Canadian stamps that the Chinese have been faking since 2021, he claims. New improvements include a "security band" that reflects under ultraviolet light - something that was previously impossible to mimic.
To the average eye, there's no difference between the fakes and the real deal. "You have to enlarge the stamp by a factor of 100 to start seeing the difference," explains Gratton. You can then see small points in the numbers of the fakes, indicating they were made with an offset printer, while Canada Post uses photolithography, a more sophisticated approach.
A $300 Million Scam
Back in April, La Presse exposed a wave of $100 bills originating from China that has been hitting Quebec, Ontario, and the Atlantic provinces. The stamp market may be dwindling, but it still attracts thieves. Canada Post moves $300 million worth of stamps annually, according to the latest annual report.
Canada Post is the only online retailer authorized to sell Canadian stamps on the internet. Responding to our questions, Canada Post said, "[We are aware that counterfeit stamps occasionally circulate within the postal system. Canada Post does everything possible to collaborate with law enforcement agencies to put an end to counterfeiting]."
Our advice? Inform police if you come across counterfeit stamps!
Eric Li, a professor at the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business, studied counterfeit luxury goods in China and Hong Kong. He believes that Chinese counterfeiters face little risk of legal action from the Canadian government and even less from the Chinese government.
Li suggests that Canada Post should consider phasing out stamps by 2025, a mechanism that's nearly 200 years old. With competitors like FedEx, UPS, and Amazon using secure barcodes, these packages boast "amazing package tracking systems" that appeal to consumers and significantly boost their success.
Gratton fears that Canada Post is planning to replace stamps with an online postage system. "It's sad," admits the stamp collector. "In the States, the US Postal Service [even] creates videos to raise awareness about counterfeit stamps." But right here, Canada Post doesn't seem to talk about it. "It's like it doesn't exist," laments Gratton.
() For the collectors and the curious minds, here are strategies to combat counterfeit stamps:
- Authentication Techniques: Advanced techniques to verify stamp authenticity include examining paper quality, ink, and security features.
- Educational Campaigns: Raising awareness among collectors and the public about how to identify counterfeit stamps can help reduce demand for fake products.
- Legal Action: Collaboration with law enforcement agencies to prosecute counterfeiters and disrupt supply chains.
- Security Features: Incorporating advanced security features into stamps can make them more difficult to counterfeit.
- Collaboration with Experts: Working with philatelic experts and using specialized software to detect anomalies in stamps can help identify fakes.*
- The French professor, Eric Li, specializing in counterfeit luxury goods, notes that Chinese counterfeiters pose little risk of legal action from the Canadian government and even less from the Chinese government, indicating a potential link between the counterfeiting of non-currency items such as Philately (stamps) and high-end luxury goods.
- Interestingly, Tristan Pelletier, an investigative journalist from Our Website, reports that China's counterfeit industry has even penetrated the world of finance by replicating various Canadian stamp series, suggesting a broader trend of economic infiltration through finance and lifestyle-related items.
- As the industry evolves, technology plays a crucial role in the counterfeiting scene, with Chinese counterfeiters continually improving their techniques, such as incorporating security bands that reflect under ultraviolet light in the latest Canadian stamp series, which translate to a need for more advanced authentication methods. In the broader context of general news and business, this trend highlights the ongoing competition between traditional analogue systems (like stamps in this case) and modern digital alternatives that offer advanced security features, such as barcodes and secure tracking systems popularized by companies like FedEx, UPS, and Amazon.
