Pakistani authorities have arrested 33-year-old Faheem Akram following a manhunt over an online shipping label fraud scheme that allegedly cost the United States Postal Service (USPS) more than $126 million according to the Pakistani authorities.
Akram, who lives in the eastern province of Punjab, was taken into custody after a search involving raids across different parts of the country by Pakistan’s cybercrime investigative agency reports The Washington Post, among others.. He was indicted in Florida in late September.
Operation of LabelsBank.com
According to American prosecutors, Akram managed a website named LabelsBank.com that operated from August 2023 until September of this year. The platform sold more than 5.1 million counterfeit shipping labels to at least 5,200 customers. The labels were typically sold for 2 dollars each, regardless of the package’s weight, dimensions, or destination. These forged labels enabled customers to send mail pieces far below the regular rates of the U.S. Postal Service, resulting in lost revenue and shipping costs for the postal agency.
Akram Used Sixteen Bank Accounts for Illicit Operations
Investigators stated that Akram allegedly used sixteen different bank accounts for his illicit operations. Some of these accounts were registered in the names of his brother, his wife, and an aunt. The estimated $126 million figure represents the alleged losses suffered by the postal service rather than the direct sales revenue generated through the website.
Extradition Uncertainty
Following his arrest after the week-long manhunt, it remains unconfirmed whether Akram will be extradited to the United States or prosecuted locally in Pakistan, according to reports from the Associated Press.