UK flooded with forged stamps despite using barcodes — to prevent just that

The report covers a surge of counterfeit Royal Mail barcoded stamps—allegedly mass-produced by Chinese suppliers—resulting in fines for UK customers who believed they bought legitimate stamps, and sparking disputes among Royal Mail, the Post Office, and UK Border Force over responsibility. It highlights operational false positives in stamp verification and explores privacy concerns tied to uniquely identifiable barcodes that could, in theory, link stamps to senders, but it does not describe a cyber incident such as malware, data breach, or vulnerability.