USPS lost an estimated $3.1B in unrecoverable revenue to counterfeit shipping labels between March 2024 and February 2026, according to an Inspector General audit published September 10. Its own tracking data shows the fake labels still went out for delivery 97% of the time over roughly that stretch, and the volume of them more than tripled, from 9.7 million in October 2023 to a peak of 29.4 million in December 2025, before new controls pulled the number down early this year. Those same controls also stopped packages carrying valid paid postage, pulling roughly 2 million of them out for extra processing between December 2024 and February 2026. All were eventually delivered, but the audit puts the cost of those errors at $7.2 million, and at $11.9 million more by May 2027 if they continue.
