Between March 2022 and February 2024, Scott Clegg sold counterfeit stamps with a face value of just over £650,000
15:59, 08 Aug 2025Updated 17:00, 08 Aug 2025
Scott Clegg of Eaton Road, West Derby(Image: Merseyside Police)
A man who made a small fortune selling counterfeit stamps on eBay was caught with more than 85,500 of the fake goods stashed in his home. Scott Clegg, 49, from West Derby, sold thousands of fake stamps worth more than £650,000 of a period of two years, using accounts registered to his mother and brother.
An investigation began in March 2022, after a member of the public complained to Royal Mail that stamps they had purchased from Clegg’s eBay account turned out to be counterfeit. The Royal Mail team made a purchase from the account in order to examine the stamps, which were confirmed to be fake, along with the stamp which had been used to send the package.
At Liverpool Crown Court today, August 8, prosecutor Stella Hayden said: “eBay confirmed the seller was registered as this defendant, Scott Clegg, with an address in West Derby, between March 17, 2022 and March 31, 2024. The defendant only ceased trading at that time after eBay removed the items for sale.
“On August 31, 2022, a further eBay seller began to sell stamps by eBay, and data obtained by Royal Mail was able to trace that seller to the defendant’s mother, again in West Derby.”
Another account, operating between February and November 2023, was traced to Clegg’s brother. All three accounts were in fact operated by Clegg himself, Ms Hayden said.
She said: “Between March 2022 and February 2024, the defendant sold counterfeit stamps with a face value of just over £650,000. He sold these at 18% of the face value, at a profit of £115,700.
“It’s plain from some of the feedback received that some purchasers believed these to be genuine stamps because there were complaints when they were returned.”
On February 9 last year, Merseyside Police attended Clegg’s West Derby address, where they seized a massive collection of 89,582 stamps. Ms Hayden said: “The stamps were a mix of first and second class stamps, single issue stamps and bar coded stamps, and the recovered stamps had a face value of £182,000. They were all, except for a very small number, counterfeit stamps.”
Clegg was arrested, and an investigation into his finances showed bank account transfers linked to eBay to the tune of £121,605.
The 49-year-old, of Eaton Road, West Derby, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and three counts of money laundering. He appeared for sentence at Liverpool Crown Court today, August 8.
Jason Smith, defending, said: “Scott Clegg is 49, he’s clearly an intelligent man having been to university. Then it all goes wrong and we’re in the position where, at an age where he should be concentrating on his future, he faces a custodial sentence for the first time in his life.
“These offences were some time ago and he has had these hanging over him for a period of over a year, and it has been a very difficult time for him, knowing that there is a possibility that he would receive a custodial sentence, and that has affected not only him but his mother and his brother as well.
“He has taken onboard responsibilities for his mother and responsibilities for his brother who has significant mental health problems.”
Judge Garrett Byrne said it was “difficult to determine” the loss caused to Royal Mail, as it could not be proved that all people who purchased Clegg’s counterfeit stamps would have purchased genuine ones instead. However, he said: “Possession of counterfeit stamps undermines the postal service. Anyone found to be in possession of these items knowing or believe them to be false can expect to receive a severe punishment.”
He sentenced Clegg to 28 months in prison.