LANCASTER, N.Y. (WKBW) — It's the time of the year when people are gearing up for the holidays and sending out holiday cards to friends and family.
Inside the Bowen household, the holiday season is in full swing.
"These are giuggiulena that we started," Janine Bowen said.
With a batch of cookies ready to go — so too is Bowen's Christmas card.
A few months ago, Bowen was on Facebook and saw an ad for discounted Christmas stamps from what she thought was a USPS website.
"And I was like this is a good deal you know get 20, 30 dollars off and send your Christmas cards and I ordered them," she said.
Weeks later, she received a package of USPS holiday wreath stamps from 2019.
"I opened them up and they looked real but I still didn't feel really good about it," she said.
So, Bowen took them to the post office — just to be sure.
"And they said well they scan but we don't discount our stamps...So I took them to another post office and they scanned there too but told me the same thing, 'We don't discount our stamps. It's probably a scam,'" Bowen explained, "I took a chance and my cards were sent out a week ago and no one has received them as of yet. I've had a couple people tell me they're coming in today's mail."
USPS says the number of counterfeit stamps being sold online has escalated. If they're sold at a discounted price between 20 to 50% off, that should be a big indicator to you that it's a scam.
"You could be scammed doing anything i mean it said United States Postal Service on the ad it was like right there — so I don't know how they get away with that," Bowen said.
According to USPS, the most frequently found counterfeit stamp is the flag stamp. USPS suggests you be wary of significant discounts, and make sure you're getting stamps from a post office or directly on its website.
"I didn't want to believe I got scammed," Bowen said laughing.
While Bowen hopes her cards make it in time for Christmas, she said this is an important reminder to be careful — scams can happen to anyone.
"I think I'm pretty good about it and I got scammed," she said.
