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One of the growing areas of concern for stamp collectors is avoiding the problems of fraudulent stamp sellers offering forgeries and fakes on auction sites, especially on eBay. While stamp scams can sometimes occur at shows or shops, it is most prevalent in online sales, as the merchandise is being represented virtually. A listing may describe a stamp to have qualities above the actual grade, or pictures might not be for the stamp actually sent.
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Learn all you can about the stamp(s) being offered. Are there look-alikes, especially lower-value look-alikes? Are there easy ways to modify one
of these look-alikes to fool potential buyers?
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Never consider bidding on a stamp if there isn't a picture of stamp; preferably, both the front and the back of the stamp.
Never consider a stamp if the seller's feedback rating isn't at 99 percent. Read all the negative feedback for the seller. How they handle
problems is as important as the seller's overall reliability for the items sold.
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Compare the picture with the description. Does the seller adequately describe visible faults and tears? Does the seller over-embellish the
quality of the stamp in any way? Does the picture of the stamp reveal any alterations to the cancellations or perforations that have been
re-done? If you're not certain, ask an expert to look at the scan. If you're not satisfied, don't bid.
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Check the seller's credentials. If he claims to be a member of the American Philatelic Society (APS), go to their site (see Resources) and look
up their membership details. These are available right on their site; you can get a sense of the seller's credibility and also file a complaint on
anyone who is a member and has failed to do business honestly.
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Understand the seller's policies on returns. If the seller has no return policy or is selling the stamp "as is," don't bid (this implies we are talking
about expensive stamps, a scammer would not bother with lower priced common stamps). Also, if the return policy only allows for a few days to
return the stamp, be wary, as that short a time is probably so that you have no time to get the stamp professionally examined.
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Look for examples of common forgery techniques to be able to spot common problems. The most common forgeries are modifications of
inexpensive look-alike stamps to look like their high-value cousins. Changes to perforations, ink, gum and other alterations can fool even
experts at a casual glance.
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Contact the seller if you have any questions or if you'd like to look at a better scan of the stamp or if there is no scan of the back of the stamp included.
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Know that a fake stamp is defined as a genuine stamp that has been altered in some way to change its appearance. Fake stamps are different
from forged stamps, which are labels that have been created from scratch to defraud collectors, or counterfeit stamps, which are labels that have
been created from scratch to defraud stamp dealers.
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Become familiar with the different types of fake stamps that exist in the world today. The more you know, the easier it will be to spot a fake.
Techniques used to fake stamps include re-gumming, repairing damage, re-perforation, and false cancels and overprints.
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Inspect the gum on the back of the stamp. Forgers will re-gum a stamp to repair damage to the original gum, in order to increase the value of
a stamp. If re-gumming is suspected, compare the stamp to one known to have original gum, and pay close attention to the color of the gum.
If this is not possible, there are several important details to look for, such as excess gum texture, overt watermark visibility, stamp curling and
sharp perforation tips.
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Look closely for repairs to damage on stamps. Common repairs include cleaning stains, replacing torn pieces, sealing holes and tears,
smoothing creases and repairing thins (places where the some stamp's fibers have been removed, making the paper thinner). Note that repairs
are often masked by the application of a false cancel mark over the repaired area. Often, a professional scanning machine can quickly reveal
damaged areas that are not visible to the naked eye.
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Pay attention to the perforations of the stamp. Re-perforated stamps are some of the most common fakes, and can often be fairly easy to
spot, particularly with the aid of a magnifying glass. Stamps are re-perforated to add perforations to a straight-edge stamp, improve design
centering and eliminate perforation faults. Look for re-perforated fakes to have misshapen holes and poorly spaced or aligned holes.
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Check the validity of cancels and overprints on a stamp, as this is another commonly used method of stamp fakery. This is done because
certain scarce cancels (such as first-day cancels) and overprints (such as special wartime markings) can raise the value of a stamp. Compare
the cancel to original cancels, and look for inaccurate dates, cancels that appear painted in, and other discrepancies in the printing.