Fergie's Tech Blog

Is eBay Postage Stamp Racket the Net's Stickiest Scam?

This is one of the first U.S. stamps, produced in 1851 without perforations and again in 1857 with perforations. The 1851 stamp, at left, was purchased on eBay by Detocakes9 in August 2005. It was perforated to simulate a rarer 1857 stamp and marked with additional ink to hide a scrape before being resold by 8834David in February 2006 for a tidy profit.
Image source: MSNBC / George Kopecky

It may be the stickiest scam on the Internet — a nine-year saga of deceit that has seen thousands of altered postage stamps sold to unwitting collectors on eBay and other Internet auction sites. More striking than its longevity, though, is that the mastermind has never been charged with a crime, even though his identity apparently is known to eBay security, law enforcement officials and some of the nation’s leading stamp experts.

The man believed to be behind the scheme is a longtime stamp dealer living in upstate New York. He has been investigated by law enforcement, suspended by eBay and exposed in Internet forums devoted to stamp collecting. Yet the massive operation continues to churn out philatelic fakes, burning collectors and, some say, undermining the very foundations of the hobby.

posted by Fergie @ 2/26/2007 11:07:00 AM