Mystery seeds from china

[BarkingHat]

Anyone else gets these? Mystery packets from China saying jewellery but open them and they are seeds. Been arriving all over the world.

If you get r have had them don’t sow them but send email to [email protected]

Triffids.

I saw this on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah the other day. So weird and fascinating! I’m sure it’s a pretty innocent internet scam but at the same time you don’t want organic materials going all over the world without controls. It’s too easy to inadvertently spread diseases or pests. Plant diseases, not coronavirus!

@ImFree2doasiwant
What did you do with them?
Mine also had no label or instructions: inside the outer packaging was a small clear bag of seeds labelled "made in China". Nothing else.

I heard the Plant Heath Chief of R4 and a woman had got seeds in the post. The message was really clear, don't plant them as they might be an invasive species or carry plant disease.
Report as the OP said to [email protected]

My mate got silk scarves, washers and bubblewrap he hadn't ordered, same brushing scam/address theft.

The most likely answer is a scam (usually the answer to anything weird is either money or stupidity) but I think triffids are more interesting.

So I'm sticking to triffid seeds. Has anyone read the book? No-one watch any meteor showers!

It’s been going on with Amazon for a while. The seller creates a fake account but with a real address and this allows them to leave a review for their own goods of course they give theirselves 5 stars and a glowing review.

How does the scam work though? I’m confused.

The advice on the radio (think it was LBC) was also not to chuck them in the bin because they could still germinate in landfill or something like that (I am no seed professional)

Best thing to do is to report them if you receive them and I assume they powers that be will advise you what to do with them.

It is a bit strange, I am intrigued as to what it's all about although I am pretty sure it will turn out to be quite innocent..... hopefully

@Ginkypig

I never get anything randomly sent to me

I want a triffid too!

A few glasses of wine on a Saturday night seems to help with mysterious packages arriving on Monday in this household.

@SerenityNowwwww
It’s a brushing scam. Let’s use Amazon as an example.
Seller on Amazon finds a real address somewhere around the world, creates a fake email address and creates a fake Amazon account.
Seller then orders their own product using the fake account, say a pair of earrings but sends seeds instead. Seeds get delivered, email goes out to fake account email as normal asking to leave a review.
Seller is then able to leave a glowing review from fake account about their amazing earrings and this improves their sellers rating.

Meanwhile somewhere around the world is a rather baffled person looking at a bunch of seeds they’ve just received.

I don't really understand the fake review scam, you can't leave a review for something you didn't buy. They cant leave a review in your name.

I do know that the Chinese govt will fund free postage for companies as long as they send a certain number of packets out every year. But to qualify, they usually send out something like a piece of thread, or an envelope with a note in it.

FFEEEEEEED MEEEEEEE

conversation.which.co.uk/money/amazon-prime-brushing-scam-explained/

This explains it much better than me

I once got a random delivery of a bottle opener disguised as a ring. I wish it had been seeds. Much more excitement and potential drama with seeds.

[quote MellowMelly]@SerenityNowwwww
It’s a brushing scam. Let’s use Amazon as an example.
Seller on Amazon finds a real address somewhere around the world, creates a fake email address and creates a fake Amazon account.
Seller then orders their own product using the fake account, say a pair of earrings but sends seeds instead. Seeds get delivered, email goes out to fake account email as normal asking to leave a review.
Seller is then able to leave a glowing review from fake account about their amazing earrings and this improves their sellers rating.

Meanwhile somewhere around the world is a rather baffled person looking at a bunch of seeds they’ve just received.[/quote]
But why send anything in the first place?

@monkeyonthetable

FFEEEEEEED MEEEEEEE

This made me LAUGH

@SerenityNowwwww they have to actually send something because it’s part of the amazon shipping and tracking system. It’s this process that eventually leads to the automatic email asking recipient to leave a review which is of course sent to the fake email address.

Amazon would soon pick up on orders being received for a seller but no goods being sent out and it would raise suspicion. This is a great way round it for the seller. They buy the seeds in bulk cheaply and send those instead.

@vixxo

Ah. I see. So any mystery parcel comes, contact amazon? Not that anyone ever sends me anything I didn’t pay for...

Ha - this came up on my Apple news:
apple.news/A4s9TeejZRt2K0kfRuxV8mA

Yes it seems a way to avoid duty or apparently they get your address randomly, create a fake order and send an item to you. In this case it is jewellery - they send the seeds as they are cheap and similar to feel as a small packet of jewellery/earings. They do it so that they can create fake positive reviews on things like Amazon. The key is that as the order is fulfilled - it is a verified purchase.

I have an image of traders scratching their heads saying - they are just courgette seeds? grow them and you get free courgettes!

@orangenasturtium

You seriously think that the seeds are infected with covid 19? Absolute madness. Why would any country need to deliberately infect other countries with the virus? It's all over the world, we did that ourselves without having to plant the bloody virus. Conspiracy theories are not helpful. There is no evidence to support the theory that the seeds carry the virus. You are scaremongering.

They won't be infected with SARS-CoV-19 @MoreSchnitzelPlease but they could be infected with plant viruses.

There are laws about importing seeds, plants, flowers, fruit and vegetables for good reason. Invasive species can wipe out native species and damage the ecosystem as it's not just the plants that are effected, it's everything in that food chain. They can also bring imported diseases and pests.

Please don't plant any mystery seeds. All those dodgy seeds from China on Amazon are a disaster waiting to happen too...

I am aware of that. The post I quoted specifically stated that the seeds could be infected with covid 19, which is what I was responding to. It is absolute madness for anyone to suggest the seeds could deliberately be used in an elaborate plot for China to infect the world with covid - 19. There is no evidence to support such an assertion. That kind of scaremongering and ignorance should be called out.

@SerenityNowwwww Haha, great timing!

Not all these packages are via Amazon. Other internet selling platforms have also had problems with this brushing scam. But as always it’s best to make sure any of your online accounts are secure and haven’t been compromised if you receive a suspicious package.

At the start of lockdown when everyone and their dog was ordering seeds and other gardening supplies. My dad ordered some courgette seeds, they said they'd arrive mid June. Of course 12 weeks pass and the order was forgotten. Seeds arrive from China in an unmarked bag. Planted them and now have some baby courgettes.

Are you sure they are courgettes...? I’d keep an eye on them just in case.

@GinWithASplashOfTonic

Are you taking us down the killer courgette route?