Can you mail a letter with a fake stamp?

[Jodi1980]

One of our students got his picture taken and put on stickers and wanted to mail a letter to his parents. We figure the post office will ask the parents for the cost of a stamp.

 

[mus muris asinus]

No, I'm pretty sure the P.O. would require a real stamp, not a sticker with a kid's face on it.

 

[minniecarousel]

I think the PO returns these to the person who sent it. It would be treated as if it had no stamp.

 

[DocRafiki]

I think it will be returned. I wonder what would happen if he put his parents' address as the return address instead of his (NOT that I'm advocating trying to cheat the system, just wondering at what point they check for stamps and if they would pick up on the fake return address).

 

[Rutt and Tuke]

LOL DocRafiki

How about putting your own address in the addressee spot and where you want it to go in the return address spot. Maybe that would work.

So would using correct postage though.

 

[Jodi1980]

We had just the student's name as the return address. A co-worker said it was a federal offense-that's what I'm worried about but the post office wouldn't know who mailed it!

 

[preshi]

Can he just put it in his mailbox while his parents aren't looking?

 

[Rajah]

Why not just use multiple stamps?

One real one, one with the kid's face?

 

[Ellester]

The post office has sensors in the cancelling machines to detect whether a stamp is on it or not. If they catch it there, it will be returned to the sender. If it gets to the destination city, it may be delivered as postage due. It is a federal offense to knowingly try to defraud the postal service (I used to work for them). I would highly doubt they would send the inspectors out for a one time thing, but they can be pretty serious. I wouldn't want to tangle with them.

 

[Rutt and Tuke]

I want to say that I was joking about switching the addresses.

I do think it is wrong, especially since he is a student of yours, to encourage him to do anything but proper postage.

 

[nativetxn]

If you mail it with insufficient postage it will be returned to the return address. If you don't have a return address it will go to the Dead Letter Office

 

[BHFan25]

Ellester is correct. I'd think twice before trying to fool them!

 

[Melora]

The other day my dauighter mailed two letters to her friends. Both of them were square, which requires an extra 12.5 cents postage. I didn't know that (the envelopes didn't mention extra postage required), so I just stamped them with 37 cents and put them into the mailbox.

One got returned and one didn't and made it to it's destination. The one that got returned I took to the post office and they allowed me to use the already used stamp that was on it and just add the rest of the postage to it.

Im not sure why one went through and one didn't. They both were dropped off at the same time and both were going to houses about 5 miles apart.

Gotta wonder!

 

[mom2of2]

If they make it past the scanners and the clerks then the carrier might just put it in the NOV (no obvious value) receptacle...better known as the TRASH.
I agree...double stamp the letter.

 

[knucklehead]

We used to get scam letters from Nigeria that were mailed with fake stamps. Now they just use email. As for here in the USA, it's been done but it is a federal offense to knowingly do so.

 

[LuvN~Travel]

Melora, the second letter probably got through because of automation. So much can get by us, because most letter mail now is automated. The machine just sends it on. If the carrier or box mail clerk doesn't catch it, no one does. However, it is like playing roulette, if you send more than one, you have no idea how many will 'make it' through, and how many may return. Or how many got paid by the receipient on the other end. (Got a sympathy card that way once.....!)
Kim

 

[Nebsky]

Couple of years ago a buddy of mine had an idea...

He got some new underwear (fruit of the loom)...
He took the tags off them. Placed them in the upper right hand corner of an envelope and believe it or not it worked.
These were size 32 and the current rate of postage was 32 cents.
I got a letter from him...It really worked.

Now my dad was telling me that he and his girlfriend from a long time ago use to write each other all the time...
Instead of putting his address in the senders address, he would put his girlfriends address up there. She would do the same thing. They never used stamps and the letters were always "returned" for postage. Only thing was is that they had been delivered.

It can be done...

Do I do it...No...Do I think its funny..Yes...

 

[seashoreCM]

For a long time the Post Office has issued stamps with a big letter as opposed to the number of cents of postage, the idea was to have a temporary first class stamp ready to sell before the rate increase was decided on.

No problem except that they did something stupid. They had both a letter G first class stamp and a letter G postcard stamp. The latter costs less and had "postcard rate" in tiny oprint added, too small for me to read without bifocals.

So one day I was looking around for postcard stamps and "couldn't find any" around the house. I made a special gas wasting trip to the post office to buy some.

Then I found the sheet of G postcard stamps which i remembered using about a dozen oif thos sstamps to mail ordijnary letters.

None of them came back for postage due. Perhaps the Post Office stamp canceling machinery couldn't tell the difference either.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

By the way, even if it was my mistake, if I got back one of my letters for postage due, I just add the missing amount and remail it, reusing the first stamp.

If you want to make your own stamps with your face or some favorite object or pet pictured, go ahead and do so, but put that stamp on the back like an Easter Seal. One of these days the Post Office might set up portrait photo booths so you can make real stamps (at a higher price) with your picture on them.