NIGERIA ILLEGAL STAMPS

Information and Reference of illegal stamps for Nigeria

Research on counterfeit illegal stamps in the name of Nigeria has never been done namely because until recent times none have been found to exist. Nigeria has a powerful and robust postal system of which it appears the British counterfeit producers and others out of fear of extreme retaliation avoided producing them in the name of Nigeria. I could find no evidence of illegal stamps dating from the beginnings in 1998 through 2015. It is in 2016 that the criminal Russian producer/distributor Topnimarka.com began experimental production of counterfeit illegal stamps in the name of Nigeria. The Eastern European producer with connections to europolstamps on eBay and others has produced a counterfeit set as well dating 2019. We can therefore see the vultures are beginning to branch out and are victimizing countries that in the past were not victimized by their criminal activities.

This is due totally by the lack of leadership and corruption within the UPU over the past three decades which has hindered legal enforcement and allowed the explosive contamination of every facet of the stamp market with illegal stamps produced by a very few producers and now being distributed by numerous criminal stamp dealers who apparently cannot make a career from selling real postage stamps and resort to selling counterfeit goods to enjoy huge profits from millions of victim collectors all over the world. This not only has effected the stamp market but effects many other fields of collecting as well.

There are no UPU circulars published by Nigeria. That will be changed in the near future as they now realize they too are being victimized by these criminals. Because the UPU will not unite the victimized countries into taking legal action against these criminal producers and dealers and the leadership along with certain corrupt stamp agents has fought to maintain distance, we are now seeing the production of illegal stamps expanding. The UPU must ratify the rules and firmly term the illegal stamps for what they are.

COUNTERFEIT STAMPS also known as COUNTERFEIT GOODS.

I am a firm advocate against illegal stamps and the creators of them and the sellers of them. Perspective buyers of them need more than UPU circulars to be alerted to the problem. They need to see them and be able to recognize them when they are searching for stamps to buy on the internet or at stamp shows or buying from local dealers.

Because I am independent and run a site that is very public for collectors, I have decided that it is time for someone to display images of these illegal issues that have and are being reported to the UPU. The countries that are being victimized by these fraudulent printers need help and the UPU is not enough. It is up to you and me to get the word out and to let everyone know and understand about them since auction venues, stamp societies and catalogs seem to want to ignore the problem. Some who sell these fakes are large volume stamp dealers with supposed impeccable reputations. Some are in high positions in the stamp societies and in the auction venues. They in turn are avoiding the very problem by allowing these kind of sellers to peddle this junk because they also sell legitimate stamps on a large scale. The only way to stop the flow is to hit them where it hurts.

If they are selling this junk then avoid them!
Even if they have legitimate stamps for sale. Buy from sellers that do not have these in their offerings. If you are buying legitimate stamps from them you are still supporting the illegal stamp trade because they are supporting it. Tell them that you do not want to buy from them because they sell illegal stamps. There is no excuse to make them available to anyone.

The following images are of illegal stamps produced for Nigeria. Please remember that the producers of these illegal stamps are not only greedy, they are crude and sometimes disgusting which is the nature of these people.

To find out what stamps are real and legitimate for Nigeria visit the UPU WNS website and look at the Nigeria section. It is pretty much exact up through 2016. They need to update for the later years.

The Universal Postal Union WNS website

I have found the Colnect online catalog to be very helpful and will give you a much clearer picture of what stamps are real. sorry to say they have no reference to any illegal stamps in the name of Nigeria.

The Colnect Online Catalog for Nigeria

I have found the Stampworld.com Catalog to be very helpful as well.

The Stampworld Online Catalog for Nigeria

Here we go!

Some of the following illegal stamps can be found as imperforates and as color proof sets as well. Some may exist on fake First Day Covers too.
Most times now (2020) the souvenir sheet sets and sheetlet sets are sold individually. Many times the stamps have been removed from the sheetlets and souvenir sheets. All of these "tactics" are used to avoid detection by UPU circular descriptions.

Sellers that call these "private", "locals", "Cinderella's", "unauthorized" are deceiving you. They are illegal stamps produced by a stamp dealer that is bent on ripping you off! Some sellers state "we offer them because they are on the market". Well how about you use a different dealer because that seller is "on the market"? If the stamp societies, auction sites and all other venues kicked these sellers off of their sites then they would have to comply or lose their ability to sell anything.

The following images are free for the use of all to use to alert the public to them. If anyone wants to make a public list of users on eBay, Delcampe and elsewhere who are selling these issues....fine by me since the UPU, PWMO and others appear to have given up or have not been updated in years.

If you have purchased any of these stamps from a dealer or if that dealer offers them, you should avoid that dealer! You will only be supporting illegal stamp makers who are only ripping you off.

2016

In 2016 the Russian based dealers who I believe are also the producers appear. The company is called Topnimarka.com located in Moscow Russia.
They have created a new website called stamps-world.eu as well in 2019. Everything they are selling is fake and counterfeit stamps.
They are mass producing counterfeit illegal stamps in the name of many countries. The "styles" unique to themselves, these people are producing and selling counterfeit stamps at a massive rate dating to current times.

The Russian based company has produced the following counterfeit illegal stamps dating 2016 in the name of Nigeria. They are not commonly seen on the main stamp market because we are fighting for you to keep them off the main market. Should this company be allowed to run accounts on the main stamp venues like eBay and Delcampe, you will see a new flood of illegal stamps worse than ever seen before. This company is consistently trying to create new accounts on the venues to move them into the main stream market. Should you see them on sites like eBay and Delcampe, you can report them to me and I can assure you that they will not be there long!

I have discovered that this company is producing counterfeit stamps in later years and back dating them as shown in the Haiti section for instance. For Nigeria this is not the case so far.

Illegal Stamps in the name of Nigeria Being Disbursed by Topnimarka.com
Нигерия Не настоящие Незаконньӏе Штампьӏ по
topnimarka.com Филателистический салон а также stamps-world.eu

As of July 2020 this company is distributing 3 different counterfeit illegal stamp sets dating 2016 in the name of Nigeria.

2016 FIFA Confederation Cup in 2017 Soccer Souvenir Sheet of 4



2016 FIFA Confederation Cup in 2017 Soccer Souvenir Sheet of 2



2016 FIFA Confederation Cup in 2017 Soccer Souvenir Sheets of 1



2016 Soviet Space Souvenir Sheet of 4



2016 Soviet Space Souvenir Sheet of 2



2016 Soviet Space Souvenir Sheets of 1



2016 Space Cosmic Future Souvenir Sheet of 4



2016 Space Cosmic Future Souvenir Sheet of 2



2016 Space Cosmic Future Souvenir Sheets of 1

2017

In 2017 Topnimarka produces and starts distributing 3 more sets. Although this first counterfeit souvenir sheet shown is not on the Topnimarka website it is confirmed that the Russian company is the source. As of July 2020 it is being exclusively offered by this spectre-stamps. This spectre-stamps has been removed from eBay and Delcampe several times using different user names and will probably attempt to get on those sites again. Practically everything the dealer sells on their website is counterfeit of which a major portion appears to originate from the Russian dealer topnimarka. The two companies are proven to be working together even though one is in Russia and the other in Norway.

2017 Protestant Reformation Souvenir Sheet of 4

At present this souvenir sheet is exclusively offered by spectre-stamps on their website. A user by the name of postsk on Delcampe who is a known (and presently being observed) illegal stamp dealer has ripped off collectors in the past. We thank him for the image from his Delcampe sale. It has no year date inscribed and is "claimed" to be made in 2017. Avoid!



2017 Olympic Games in Sochi 2014 Souvenir Sheet of 4



2017 Olympic Games in Sochi 2014 Souvenir Sheet of 2



2017 Olympic Games in Sochi 2014 Souvenir Sheets of 1



2017 Olympic Games in Sochi 2014 (different) Souvenir Sheet of 4



2017 Olympic Games in Sochi 2014 (different) Souvenir Sheet of 2



2017 Olympic Games in Sochi 2014 (different) Souvenir Sheets of 1



2017 Soviet Space Souvenir Sheet of 4



2017 Soviet Space Souvenir Sheet of 2



2017 Soviet Space Souvenir Sheets of 1



As of July 2020 no counterfeits detected dating 2018.

2019

In 2019 the Eastern European counterfeit producer rears his ugly head and produces the following "set" of counterfeit illegal stamp sheets featuring Formula I Cars and Drivers.

At present on eBay there are two dealers I consider "rat" dealers offering them.
The first dealer is a user by the name of remala2005 who is located in Italy. This user has already sold 4 to 5 of each of the following imaged sheets and has many to offer. In viewing the users account, I can see he is a rip-off dealer selling many illegal stamps and has thus just made it to the list of bad sellers on eBay. Congratulations remala2005! You are now a target!

The other rat dealer who is selling these in the same fashion is a new user by the name minifi-51. Again another seller offering tons of illegal stamps.Noting many of the illegal stamps and their images are exact from europolstamps sales thus it is either europolstamps starting a new account or a very close associate. Quite obvious. Both accounts are located in Poland. Welcome to the list of bad dealers!

This set is recorded to being sold by only one user on Delcampe. He was selling the full set in one lot. He is no longer a member on Delcampe! Good! the user was senan who is located in France. He had over 3600 feedbacks before Delcampe management gave him the boot. They and many of us are showing that we do not care how "big" the criminal stamp sellers are, we are going to take you down anyway. I personally do not care if the dealer has 100,000 feedbacks and been on the site for 30 years. This is a new war that none of them are going to win. We are tech and these clowns are not. The evidence needed to remove these kind of dealers (and in many cases, take legal action) cannot be hidden by them anymore. It is....mountainous. Their anonymity is gone no matter how hard they try to hide.

2019 Formula I Alfa Romeo Team Sheet of 9



2019 Formula I Ferrari Team Sheet of 9



2019 Formula I Haas Team Sheet of 9



2019 Formula I McLaren Team Sheet of 9



2019 Formula I Mercedes Team Sheet of 9



2019 Formula I Racing Point Team Sheet of 9



2019 Formula I Red Bull Team Sheet of 9



2019 Formula I Renault Team Sheet of 9



2019 Formula I Rokit Williams Team Sheet of 9



2019 Formula I Toro Rosso Team Sheet of 9



In 2019 Topnimarka places two more sets out to distribute. These two sets are exact matches to sets offered by spectre-stamps exclusively in the name of other countries like Haiti. Both sets again have no year date inscribed. It appears topnimarka is making this a "standard" for counterfeit illegal stamps in the name of Nigeria.

2019 Space Neil Armstrong Souvenir Sheet of 4



2019 Space Neil Armstrong Souvenir Sheet of 2



2019 Space Valentina Tereshkova First Woman in Space Souvenir Sheet of 4



2019 Space Valentina Tereshkova First Woman in Space Souvenir Sheet of 2

2020

So far as of July 2020 Topnimarka has produced one other space related set just like the above. They have also produced a "new" style which is the topic of mushrooms seen below. What is interesting is this spectre-stamps has a "new" souvenir sheet of this same design featuring Pope John Paul II which is not offered on the topnimarka site. This shows topnimarka doing spectre-stamps the favor of exclusive sales of it. As of July 2020 this spectre-stamps says the Pope sheet is "sold out".
Yea right, I am sure if it is selling that well the "sold out" status will change as soon as topnimarka prints up another batch.

2020 Mushrooms Souvenir Sheet of 5 Plus Label

Sold exclusively by topnimarka as of July 2020.



2020 Pope John Paul II Souvenir Sheet of 5 Plus Label

Sold exclusively by spectre-stamps as of July 2020.



2020 Space Vladimir Komarov Souvenir Sheet of 4



2020 Space Vladimir Komarov Souvenir Sheet of 2



This one page shows you the extent of damage that one criminal person or group of people can do to the philatelic market. This is why stricter laws, rules and enforcement need to be established against these types of criminal producers and their distributors in which to apprehend and bring them all to justice no matter what country they reside in or run to when exposed.
This includes stamp dealers who have and are involved in the distribution of them no matter where they reside. These dealers should be charged and the profits and assets they have acquired (some for many years) confiscated and used to fund enforcement, education and legal proceedings to
end illegal stamp production and distribution forever.

Will this continue for Nigeria? You bet! Unless action is taken soon.

References taken from:
Major Stamp Catalogs
Internet Research

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