Pakistani man arrested in probe of LabelsBank.com that allegedly cost USPS $126 million
Pakistani police say the suspect ran LabelsBank.com; U.S. prosecutors link the scheme to more than $126 million in alleged losses.
Pakistani authorities arrested a 33-year-old man accused of running a website that sold counterfeit U.S. postage labels, an operation U.S. prosecutors say cost the United States Postal Service more than $126 million.
The suspect, Fahim Akram, was taken into custody on Tuesday after a multiweek investigation that included searches at several locations, Pakistani cybercrime investigators said. Akram lives in Khanewal in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province.
Federal indictment and alleged scheme
In September, a federal grand jury in the U.S. Southern District of Florida returned charges against Akram. According to prosecutors, he operated an unauthorized website, LabelsBank.com, through which more than 5,200 customers purchased over 5.1 million fake postage labels.
The labels were typically sold for $2 each, regardless of a parcel's weight, size or destination. Customers who used them could ship items at rates far below regular postal tariffs, prosecutors allege.
The asserted $126 million figure represents the United States Postal Service’s alleged losses, not the site’s revenue from label sales, U.S. authorities said.
Pakistani investigators say Akram ran the website from August 2023 until September 2026 and used 16 bank accounts, including accounts in the names of his brother, wife, sister and aunt. It remains unclear whether Akram will be extradited to the United States or prosecuted in Pakistan.
Photo: press material from the event
