First class decision! Royal Mail removes £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 fake until at least July while it develops a smartphone app to highlight fakes.

The app will allow customers to scan stamped barcodes to verify they are authentic.

But experts have warned that this will not help older customers who still rely on the postal service to pay utility bills or deposit checks.

Royal Mail has come under fire in recent months after its decision to only use barcode stamps led to a rise in customers receiving a £5 fine, with claims the stamps were fake.

Earlier this month, the Mail revealed that fake stamps are entering Britain from China on an “industrial scale”.

Small retailers are understood to be snapping up compelling copies, which sell for 4p each.

The investigation led to a crackdown by Border Force, which said it would seize assets and work with police to stop criminal gangs smuggling stamps into the UK.

Royal Mail said that since barcode stamps were introduced in February 2022, the number of counterfeits has fallen by around 90 per cent.

Nick Landon, commercial director, said: “We always recommend that customers only buy stamps from Post Offices and other accredited High Street retailers, and do not buy stamps online unless they do so from the official Royal Mail store. “.

Royal Mail recommends that people look out for uneven edges and any missing security tampers when trying to spot fake stamps.

Additionally, customers should be wary of stamps that are sold below market price, or stamps that appear too brightly colored or too bright.

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

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