First class decision! Royal Mail to scrap £5 fines for ‘fake’ stamp letters

Royal Mail has scrapped controversial fines for letters sent with ‘fake’ stamps.

Following pressure from this newspaper, the Postal Service will stop charging recipients £5 to collect mail sent with stamps it has deemed counterfeit until at least July, while it develops a smartphone app to detect counterfeits under to draw attention.

The app allows customers to scan barcodes of stamps to check if they are genuine.

But experts have warned this won’t support older customers who still rely on the Postal Service to pay utility bills or checks.

Royal Mail has come under heavy criticism in recent months after its decision to only use barcoded stamps led to an increase in the number of customers being fined £5, claiming the stamps were fake.

Earlier this month the Mail revealed that counterfeit stamps are entering Britain from China on an ‘industrial scale’.

Clearly, persuasive copies, which sell for 4 cents each, are being bought by small retailers.

The investigation led to a crackdown by Border Force, which said it would seize goods and work with police to prevent criminal gangs from smuggling stamps into Britain.

Royal Mail said that since the introduction of barcoded stamps in February 2022, the number of counterfeits has fallen by around 90 percent.

Nick Landon, Chief Commercial Officer, said: ‘We always recommend that customers only buy stamps from post offices and other reputable high street retailers, and not buy stamps online – unless from the official Royal Mail store.’

Royal Mail advises people to look out for uneven borders and any missing security fraud when trying to spot counterfeit stamps.

In addition, customers should be wary of stamps that are on sale for less than market price, or of stamps that appear too brightly colored or too glossy.

People should also not buy sheets of stamps sold in quantities other than 25, 50 and 100 as they are likely to be counterfeit.