ISLAMABAD: Authorities have arrested a man accused of running a counterfeit postage operation that caused more than $126 million in losses to the US Postal Service, Pakistani cybercrime agency said on Tuesday.

Faheem Akram, 33, from Khanewal in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Florida last month over LabelsBank.com, a website US prosecutors say sold more than 5.1 million counterfeit shipping labels to thousands of customers. Authorities have seized and shut down the website.

The US Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the federal law enforcement agency responsible for crimes involving the US mail system, had issued a wanted notice for Akram and offered a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction, warning public against trying to apprehend him themselves.

Pakistan’s National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (NCCIA) said on Tuesday it arrested Akram during a “specialized locator operation” that lasted 10 days and involved questioning 47 individuals and analyzing 122 call records.

“The accused had been selling fake stamps via a fraudulent website since 2023,” the NCCIA said in a statement. “Sixteen bank accounts belonging to the accused’s family were used to facilitate the fraud.”

The agency did not share the place or circumstances of Akram’s arrest.

“A case has been registered, and further investigations are underway,” the NCCIA said. “We maintain a zero-tolerance policy against those involved in cybercrimes and digital fraud.”

According to court records cited by the Justice Department, Akram operated LabelsBank.com, which allegedly sold counterfeit US postage at a fixed price, typically $2 per label regardless of a package’s weight, size or destination. The website was not authorized to sell USPS products or services.

Postal inspectors said more than 5,000 customers used the website to buy over 5.1 million counterfeit labels. By allowing packages to be shipped at heavily discounted rates, the operation allegedly caused more than $126 million in lost revenue and shipping costs to the postal service.

Akram faces one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to make and sell counterfeit postage stamps, five counts of making and selling counterfeit postage labels and four counts of wire fraud.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on the conspiracy and counterfeit-postage counts and up to 20 years on each wire-fraud count, according to the Justice Department. An indictment contains allegations, and Akram is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.