- Suspect allegedly sold 5.1m counterfeit US postage stamps.
- NCCIA found 16 bank accounts allegedly used for transactions.
- Eight special teams formed to investigate US stamp fraud case.
LAHORE: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has arrested Faheem Akram, the main suspect in an alleged Rs35 billion scheme involving the online sale of counterfeit US postage stamps, according to The News.
A US federal grand jury had charged the suspect with defrauding US Postal Service of over $100 million by selling counterfeit postage online.
According to US court records, Akram of Khanewal district in Punjab, operated an online website that allegedly sold counterfeit US postage at a fixed rate regardless of a package’s weight, size, or destination.
“The indictment alleges more than 5.1 million counterfeit labels and more than $126 million in losses,” US Attorney Jason A Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said last month.
US authorities charged Akram with one count of conspiracy to defraud the US and to make and sell counterfeit postage stamps, five counts of making and selling counterfeit postage stamp labels, and four counts of wire fraud.
According to the investigation supervised by NCCIA Lahore Zone Additional Director Atif Aamir, the suspect had been operating a website, LabelsBank.com, from August 2023 to September 2026, through which more than five million counterfeit US postage stamps were allegedly sold at $2 each.
Investigators found that 16 bank accounts were allegedly used for the transactions, including seven accounts belonging to the suspect, five to his brother, two to his wife, and one each to his sister and maternal aunt.
A case (No 246/2026) has been registered, and further investigation is underway. Eight special teams have been formed to investigate the case across Punjab, Islamabad and Sindh.
The teams conducted 35 raids on different locations and questioned 47 people. Investigators also analysed 122 call data records, 50 IMEI tracking reports and audio and video recordings from 120 cameras using modern technology and artificial intelligence.
A special locator operation continued for 10 days before the suspect was arrested.
