Machin datamatrix forgeries widely available: Royal Mail powerless?

Many people predicted that it wouldn't be long before the regular stamp forgery operations would turn their attention to the ones that would be usable next year, rather than producing more than could not.

While a few stamp dealers people are selling 1st and 1st Large stamps as forgeries for collectors, with proper descriptions and above face value, many more are selling to unsuspecting members of the public - and to some collectors and stamp dealers, though bogus websites with links to China.  This is in line with the forgery of modern US postage stamps where the sellers even declare that they will be shipped from China!

So to the first examples, the 1st class business sheet:

Forged pair of 1st class purple business sheet Machin datamatrix stamps.

If your eyesight is good you will be able to see the giveaway clues from the picture as is; if not click on it to see it larger.  If you can't see it then, use your smartphone's QR-code reader to scan the barcodes, and take a screenshot or copy down the resulting display.

If you scan all four, you will see two different.  The stamps in position 1 are both the same; ditto the stamps in position two (and every other position).  As you should know by now, every genuine stamp is different.

The method is simple: take a high-quality scan of an original sheet, make a new litho plate, and print.  I say litho, because that is cheaper than gravure, although the ones that have been sent to me are still on the way, so I don't know the process used.  

UPDATE 3 September:  I've now received one of the forgeries through the post, and the differences are quite obvious on the 1st class.  The finish is glossy, as with many previous forgeries, and there are no obvious phosphor bands, not that they are easy to see on the genuine stamps. This picture shows the glossiness (forgery above).

At higher magnification the screening on the forgery is very obvious (click on the images to enlarge):

1st class datamatrix Machin definitive - Forgery on the left, genuine on the right.

The perforation teeth on the forgery are more pointed although the elliptical perforation is a good match.

Lastly the barcode is not raised (3D) and glossy as on the genuine, it is flat and exactly the same printing as the stamp. 

Genuine, left, and forged 1st class datamatrix Machin definitive stamp.

Here is a scan I was sent of the 1st class Large.  One is a forgery and one genuine (I'm told).  I think the forgery may be the one with the FSC logo closer to the colour of the stamps, rather than the barcode.

UPDATE 18 October 2022

I have been told that the 2nd and 2nd large sheets of 50 and 2nd and 1st books of eight, exist; these were printed a number of weeks ago. No images are available yet. 

The websites that have been offering [the original] stamps include the following:

www.buys-online.com 

This site shows a contact address as

The address and phone number are genuine - it's Royal Mail's St Albans Delivery Office.

The complaint email address is used on a large number of websites selling everything from stamps to handbags, and kayaks!

Google search results for the email address used.

Note near the end of page 1 of this list, we see shop.postnord.se. Whilst this is not a current URL, www.postnord.se is, being the Danish-Swedish combined postal service, Swedish website. But the URL of the site is www.postnords.com, and shows much the same as the above images for the bogus Royal Mail site - British stamps.

Another site with the same 'ownership' shows these American stamps.  

Bogus USPS.com website almost certainly selling forged stamps.

Royal Mail's new barcode scanning equipment is not installed widely, if at all.  I don't know what last year's trial was supposed to establish - nobody ever saw any of the stamps used and the unsold 2nd class blue are now being distributed through Post Office Ltd, which means that the sales of 2nd class green business sheets this year are likely to be low - maybe next year, in which case there shouldn't be a 2023 reprint.

They are aware of these forgeries, but will make no announcement - well, that would be an egg-on-face time, wouldn't it?  Of course there is activity behind the scenes but they didn't stop more than a decade of forgeries of the gold and red security stamps, so how will they do anything now?

So what does this mean for the stamp buyer, and for Royal Mail?

Royal Mail still have a mountain to climb when it comes to getting all the revenue for the post they handle. The barcode has been no deterrent - in fact, I think the forgers see every new variant and anti-forgery measure as a challenge to be overcome!  There are also washed bar-coded stamps for sale on eBay.

The one single thing that would solve most of their problems at a stroke would involve extra work by their underpaid operatives, something which may be difficult to achieve whilst an industrial dispute is ongoing, but which could save enough money to at least contribute to the workers' demands being met.

If Royal Mail and Post Office Ltd managed to properly postmark every stamp that is used, then the chances of reuse would be reduced, and there would have been no need to set up expensive measures to detect reuse by mechanical means.  We know that they don't have time to detect forgeries by visual or current mechanical means, and there is no way they can do it with the new stamps.

1. Royal Mail need to set out clearly to Post Office Ltd what the requirements are for cancelling stamps on mail presented over the counter.  Some branches refuse outright, some will follow the rule (Large letters and parcels), and some will happily cancel stamps on any mail.  Remove the doubt and tell them to cancel all stamps on all mail - especially the expensive special delivery and international premium services.

With the latter being barcoded, it is easy to find out where they were posted. Use that to highlight need to further instruction and/or penalties.  I don't like hitting sub-postmaster's pockets but if they don't contribute to revenue protection how can they expect to receive adequate recompense from Royal Mail?

2. All business collections which include stamps should have those stamps cancelled on arrival at the first mail centre (MC), ie the one arranging the collection.  Yes, it's inconvenient and will slow down processing, but make allowances for that in the targets.  Provide MC staff with adequate metal or polymer handstamps to cancel all the stamps adquately (and possibly neatly).  The few businesses still using stamps on parcel mail must be in the stamp trade and this would produce a lot of goodwill as well. 

Mail Centres receiving parcels with uncancelled stamps should know where they have come from (a return address is a good clue), and omissions should be reported back so that the managers at the errant mail centre are penalised if this is not done.  Targets not met = performance pay not paid.

3. All mail centres must ensure that machineable mail is cancelled.  If it's not machineable then manual cancelling must be done.  Again, set targets, penalise if not met.

And to those who say, "it all takes time' - that doesn't wash.  If you are in a mail centre not cancelling the stamps then it may save you time, but down the line somebody will have to do it, even if it is the bloke with the trolley delivering to the door.  Why should the postie out in the rain and snow have to do it because somebody in a nice warm mail centre didn't?

Consumers face a different problem.  As I have pointed out previously the swap-out scheme means that there will be a lot of unwanted new barcoded stamps on the market at reduced prices.

Anybody trading in a collection and ending up with several thousand 2nd class stamps will need to find an outlet, at a discount.  How does the buyer ensure that what he is buying is genuine and that there is a genuine reason for the discount.

The seller should explain just why he is able (or must) sell at a discount.  2nd class stamps bought for as little as 14p are worth 68p.  A collector selling them for 40p will be able to show the paperwork from Royal Mail, and maybe a photocopy of the stamps sent in.  

Buyers should beware - if you buy two sheets of stamps check that the barcodes are different on the same positioned stamp on both sheets.  If not, you have a wrong'un, but ultimately, buy from trusted sources.  Look at the terms, contact details, etc  If they look wrong, they probably are.  Try these examples:

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