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Discussion Boards => Off-Topic => Topic started by: cadence4u on July 29, 2020, 12:23:27 pm
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Mysterious packages of seeds believed to be from China have landed in the mailboxes of Americans across several states over the past week, leading to a warning from agricultural officials not to plant them.
According to Kentucky’s Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, officials have received multiple reports of unsolicited seed packets arriving in their mailboxes that appear to have originated from China. Around 30 U.S. states are suspected to be affected by such deliveries.
“We don’t know what they are, and we cannot risk any harm whatsoever to agricultural production in the United States,” said Quarles. “We have the safest, most abundant food supply in the world and we need to keep it that way.”
“At this point in time, we don’t have enough information to know if this is a hoax, a prank, an internet scam or an act of agricultural bioterrorism,” he continued. “Unsolicited seeds could be invasive and introduce unknown diseases to local plants, harm livestock, or threaten our environment.”
Many of the packages are labeled as jewelry, toys, or electronic devices and may have Chinese writing on them, according to agriculture officials. Lori Culley, from Tooele, Utah, told Fox 13 she was excited to discover two small packages in her mailbox that she believed to contain earrings.
“I opened them up and they were seeds. Obviously they’re not jewelry! ” she said. “There was an article that I found in the UK saying this has been happening over there, and they are bad seeds, they are invasive. I hope that it’s nothing too serious … don’t throw them in the garbage. Don’t plant them. Don’t touch them.”
Federal officials from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) will reportedly work with the Department of Homeland Security and local officials to prevent any more illegal seeds from entering the country.
“[We are] aware that people across the country have received unsolicited packages of seed from China in recent days,” the USDA said in a statement. “At this time, we don’t have any evidence indicating this is something other than a ‘brushing scam’ where people receive unsolicited items from a seller who then posts false customer reviews to boost sales.”
“USDA is currently collecting seed packages from recipients and will test their contents and determine if they contain anything that could be of concern to U.S. agriculture or the environment,” they continued.
The Communist Party of China has not confirmed the seeds’ origin or issued any public remarks about them.
American authorities note that those who receive unsolicited seeds should report the packages to the Smuggling Interdiction and Trade Compliance Program (SITC) by calling the Smuggling Hotline at 1-800-877-3835.
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Unbelievable! My husband just read an article about this on the Internet.
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What will they do next? What a corrupt government they have over there.
Thanks for letting us know. I had not heard about this latest escapade.
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I did hear about this, I hope it’s not true.
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I had not heard about this till now. Thanks for the info...I'll probably go look into it.
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I have had people in my state and near where I live receiving them as well as other things like bracelets.
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watch it they might be trying to poison you with fentynal
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That is very strange. I wouldn't reported that too never know it could have been linked to the coronavirus.
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I have a couple of friends here in TN who have received them. How do you get rid of them?
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Thanks for posting the article about mystery seed packets arriving in the mail.
I would have thrown them away....so I am glad you posted. Do NOT Throw them away.....instead, follow this directive:
American authorities note that those who receive unsolicited seeds should report the packages to the Smuggling Interdiction and Trade Compliance Program (SITC) by calling the Smuggling Hotline at 1-800-877-3835.
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What a way to weird people out to get something random and strange in the mail. Especially something I did not order or anyone else for that matter. Hopefully in the long run this is harmless but good to be prepaired
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OMG! I hope you found out they are.
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Last time i heard about this they think it was from china. They didn't know for sure. Kinda makes no sense to be honest. Til something actually comes out proving it is Ill take it with a grain of salt. Too much miss information to say this or that for certain without proof of what something going around
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I heard news about the seeds coming from China. If you receive it in the mail, do not open. Contact your local authorities on how to dispose of it.
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I heard about this a few days ago from TV news stories. It is really scary to think that if you plant these seeds, you could be introducing a new plant into the US which goes viral and grows all over the place, overtaking native plants. That could be very dangerous to our ecosystem. It's better to send them to the USDA for testing. They will be able to handle the seeds safely.
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I have never heard of it before
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Weird and scary stuff.
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I read about it and I do not think it is true. Someone setting up China because they hate the country and blame them for the covid19. I would not put it past the government to do this.
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With every thing going on with this pandemic; now we have to be concerned with this! I would never open any packages I never ordered anyway.
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They tested the seeds and said what it was. It was just a mix of some flowers and or herbs. Nothing to get excited about. And if they do some digging it the people who received the seeds all most likely have something in common. Do any of you order from Amazon? Half the crap on there ships FROM china. I ordered some ink pens with a stylus on one end and they came from China. I think they actually shipped from somewhere in the US. But they sent me something else later. I think right now people just look for reasons to get excited. I also think people are doing things to scare people.
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They are supposedly sending them so that they can write a review in your name because you received their "package". The seeds are being sent because they are light weight however the review could be for almost anything.
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They are supposedly sending them so that they can write a review in your name because you received their "package". The seeds are being sent because they are light weight however the review could be for almost anything.
Where did you get this info? That is not what the article I read said. If that was the case they can write a review whether you were sent the package or not. I did order something on Amazon and it came from china and they told me they would send me a second one of the thing I ordered if I would write a review. These seeds are a mixture of a bunch of stupid stuff. Not anything that I would think would be sent as a package somebody would buy. There would be no way to ever know if your name was used to write a review. But as there are usually multiple people with the same name I guess it would not really matter.
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I read that so far they seem to be vegetable and/or flower seeds but all have not been examined or tested. The article admonished folks to not use or plant them as some could be for invasive plants.
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I read that so far they seem to be vegetable and/or flower seeds but all have not been examined or tested. The article admonished folks to not use or plant them as some could be for invasive plants.
At least one woman said she planted them. And she was not worried about it.
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I heard when you plant them they grow masks cos the Chinese feel bad giving us the virus and they wanna suck up to Trump.
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I read about it and I do not think it is true. Someone setting up China because they hate the country and blame them for the covid19. I would not put it past the government to do this.
Anything is possible (and I wouldn't put it past the gov't either) but in this case it appears to be real. A friend of mine received some in the mail and the package was indeed from China. The pictures of the package and seeds were posted on FB and the Dept. of Agriculture was contacted.
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I have a couple of friends here in TN who have received them. How do you get rid of them?
I have a friend who contacted the Dept. of Agriculture when he received them. He's planning on burning them.
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I heard about the seeds but don't know if they really grow anything
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??? I wonder who is sending these seeds and for what purpose?
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T
I read that so far they seem to be vegetable and/or flower seeds but all have not been examined or tested. The article admonished folks to not use or plant them as some could be for invasive plants.
At least one woman said she planted them. And she was not worried about it.
None of this makes sense to me, but my husband read the same (or similar) article. The basic gist was that if you receive a package, you are considered a "verified" buyer and the sender can then write a paid review in your name. Maybe this "sender" in essence, is stealing your identity and playing like YOU are the one writing a review. A review on "what", is my question. What a mess! That's a lot of trouble to go to, to write a paid review!
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TI read that so far they seem to be vegetable and/or flower seeds but all have not been examined or tested. The article admonished folks to not use or plant them as some could be for invasive plants.
At least one woman said she planted them. And she was not worried about it.
None of this makes sense to me, but my husband read the same (or similar) article. The basic gist was that if you receive a package, you are considered a "verified" buyer and the sender can then write a paid review in your name. Maybe this "sender" in essence, is stealing your identity and playing like YOU are the one writing a review. A review on "what", is my question. What a mess! That's a lot of trouble to go to, to write a paid review!
I have saw a couple of different articles. The review thing is what they think it is . What happens is they have a verified shipment to your address. So they write a review of whatever product giving 5 stars and raving positivity. It is nothing harmful or some evil scary tactic. Do you not look at reviews before you purchase stuff? Are you not more likely to buy a 5 star whatever than a no star or 2 star? It is just a way to boost their company. Plus if your item has 5 stars it will show up at the top and be the one people are more likely to buy. I look now more than ever on where stuff comes from. Sadly when I looked for stylus ink pens a few months ago every single place on Amazon that sold them it was coming from China. Or it shipped from Amazon but the owner was in China.
The seeds are super cheap to ship. They have identified all the seeds and it is a mixture of flower seeds and herbs. And not only do they do the review thing but they got people all freaked out. Another plus for them.
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What are these seeds?
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TI read that so far they seem to be vegetable and/or flower seeds but all have not been examined or tested. The article admonished folks to not use or plant them as some could be for invasive plants.
At least one woman said she planted them. And she was not worried about it.
None of this makes sense to me, but my husband read the same (or similar) article. The basic gist was that if you receive a package, you are considered a "verified" buyer and the sender can then write a paid review in your name. Maybe this "sender" in essence, is stealing your identity and playing like YOU are the one writing a review. A review on "what", is my question. What a mess! That's a lot of trouble to go to, to write a paid review!
Interesting... and that makes a lot of sense. People always figuring out how to cheat the system to their benefit.
If those sellers ship to the US from China they benefit from those ePackets, which are subsidized postage from the Chinese government, & price negotiated with the US Post Office basically free postage.
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I just heard my Husband talking about this with a Friend. It is so scary. I sure hope that the Farmers of America does not plant them.
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So they write a review of whatever product giving 5 stars and raving positivity. It is nothing harmful or some evil scary tactic. Do you not look at reviews before you purchase stuff? Are you not more likely to buy a 5 star whatever than a no star or 2 star? It is just a way to boost their company.
Not harmful, per se, but extremely dishonest and deceptive - which I would consider an "evil scary tactic" - though not in the same sense that the conspiracy theorists would have it.
I almost always make my purchase decisions on Amazon based on price + positive reviews and I always read positive and negative reviews of everything there. Sellers that harvest false positive reviews are not where I want to send my business. I bought an inexpensive item through Amazon a few years ago based on many positive customer reviews it had. When it arrived (from China) there was a note included that said they would refund my full purchase price if I left a review on Amazon or Twitter and provided a screen shot.
So I figured, why not? and I shot off a tweet - not overly praising the item, but an honest short positive remark. I screenshot and sent it to the email included on the note insert. They replied that I needed to leave the review on Amazon as a Verified Purchaser to get my refund. I then copied my twitter review and pasted it as a Verified Purchase review on Amazon; and screenshot it. They replied that my review was not positive enough and asked me to say more and recommend the product highly. It then dawned on me that the many positive reviews I had read which convinced me to buy that item were likely harvested the same way from other buyers. By this time, I had used the item regularly and although it was adequate, but FAR from the greatest thing since sliced bread that all of the reviews made it seem and I felt like I had been dishonestly duped. It had some drawbacks and design flaws that were not mentioned in any of the reviews I'd read.
So I amended my Amazon review of the product and wrote some very positive recommendations of the item. I submitted that update to the Chinese company, waited for my refund credit to arrive (which came within a few days), and then I promptly deleted my review hoping that nobody else was convinced in the interim to buy that *bleep* product based on my recommendation.
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I heard that, but I would never plant them. It is a little scary to think China would do such a little.
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And some people are actually planting them!! I can understand the curious ones who planted before being warned but people are still planting them smh
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I just recently read about the bracelets, I feel like there's a sadistic motive here.
I have had people in my state and near where I live receiving them as well as other things like bracelets.
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This was a relief to read, but i still hope people stop planting them.
TI read that so far they seem to be vegetable and/or flower seeds but all have not been examined or tested. The article admonished folks to not use or plant them as some could be for invasive plants.
At least one woman said she planted them. And she was not worried about it.
None of this makes sense to me, but my husband read the same (or similar) article. The basic gist was that if you receive a package, you are considered a "verified" buyer and the sender can then write a paid review in your name. Maybe this "sender" in essence, is stealing your identity and playing like YOU are the one writing a review. A review on "what", is my question. What a mess! That's a lot of trouble to go to, to write a paid review!
I have saw a couple of different articles. The review thing is what they think it is . What happens is they have a verified shipment to your address. So they write a review of whatever product giving 5 stars and raving positivity. It is nothing harmful or some evil scary tactic. Do you not look at reviews before you purchase stuff? Are you not more likely to buy a 5 star whatever than a no star or 2 star? It is just a way to boost their company. Plus if your item has 5 stars it will show up at the top and be the one people are more likely to buy. I look now more than ever on where stuff comes from. Sadly when I looked for stylus ink pens a few months ago every single place on Amazon that sold them it was coming from China. Or it shipped from Amazon but the owner was in China.
The seeds are super cheap to ship. They have identified all the seeds and it is a mixture of flower seeds and herbs. And not only do they do the review thing but they got people all freaked out. Another plus for them.
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I've never hear of these seeds, but I would be very leery about seeds from China.