Pakistan’s cybercrime agency has arrested a 33-year-old software operator hunted by US authorities over an alleged multi-million-dollar postage counterfeiting scheme, federal prosecutors and news reports confirmed.
Faheem Akram, a resident of Khanewal, Pakistan, was taken into custody by Pakistan’s cybercrime agency following an investigation into a counterfeit operation. According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, Akram operated the illicit website LabelsBank.com starting in 2023. Federal prosecutors allege the platform flooded the US postal system with more than 5.1 million fraudulent shipping labels, generating an estimated $126 million in losses for the US Postal Service.
Federal Indictment and Charges in Florida
A federal grand jury in Florida indicted Akram last month on a multi-count indictment, charging him with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to make and sell counterfeit postage stamps, five counts of making and selling counterfeit postage stamp labels, and four counts of wire fraud.
Investigators discovered that over 5,200 individual customers purchased the bogus postage stamps over the course of the operation. US prosecutors stated that Akram sold the counterfeit labels at a flat rate of roughly $2 apiece, allowing buyers to bypass legitimate pricing structures regardless of a package’s actual weight, size, or destination. This pricing anomaly drained substantial revenue and forced unexpected shipping costs onto the Postal Service.
Earlier this month, the US Postal Inspection Service ramped up pressure on the fugitive by offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information directly leading to his capture. Following the collaborative enforcement push, authorities officially shut down LabelsBank.com.
Akram Faces up to 20 Years per Wire Fraud Count
If convicted on all counts in US federal court, Akram faces severe prison sentences. The conspiracy and counterfeit postage charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison each, while the four wire fraud counts carry a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison per count, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
