The Trade of Counterfeit Excise Stamps - Tempo.co English

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Through a magnifying glass, Irvan spotted irregularities in an excise stamp for hand-rolled clove cigarettes (SKT), in tax category III, manufactured in 2024. The official from the Finance Ministry's Directorate-General of Customs found that the lettering on the cigarette stamp was thinner than that on the genuine specimen. "This is one indication that the stamp is counterfeit," Irvan said on Tuesday, August 18, 2026.

At the Customs headquarters in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, Irvan examined the authenticity of several excise stamps that Tempo had brought in that afternoon. The examination was also witnessed by Director of Communications and Public Guidance Nirwala Dwi Heryanto, Enforcement Section Chief Baskara Priya Utama, and several other Customs officials.

To confirm his finding, Irvan shone ultraviolet light from a pen over the stamps. He found that the stamp did not fluoresce under the light. The counterfeit stamp also contained fewer bright green and blue lines than the genuine specimens.

Irvan also used a needle to test authenticity of the the stamp. According to him, the lines on genuine excise stamps can be lifted with a needle because they are fibers embedded in the paper. When he tried to extract the fibers from the suspected counterfeit, they would not come loose. Instead, the needle simply pierced the paper.