More than 161,000 counterfeit U.S. Forever stamps from China were recently seized in Chicago, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said Thursday.

Anti-Terrorism Contraband Enforcement officers at the Chicago International Mail Branch stopped eight shipments containing a total of 161,860 fake stamps that violated trademark laws last weekend, CBP said. 

All the parcels were arriving from China, according to authorities, and would be valued at over $118,000 if real.

Officers, however, were able to determine that the stamps were fraudulent based on “the very low invoice value, the routing, and the extraordinary efforts undertaken to conceal the stamps,” according to CBP.

While the quality of the seized fraudulent stamps was poor, CBP warned that advances in counterfeiting are improving the quality so much so that most consumers may not detect the differences between fake and authentic stamps.

Authentic Forever stamps, as pictured above, are always sold at the same price as a regular First-Class Mail stamp. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, File)

An uptick in counterfeit U.S. Postal Service postage stamps typically occurs around holidays, especially “high volume card holidays like Valentine’s Day,” authorities said.

CBP reminded the public that authentic postage stamps are produced at the U.S. Bureau of Engraving & Printing in the United States.