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Reports of Unsolicited seeds being shipped from China

Deleted member 176

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Banned
Oct 25, 2017
37,160
El Bombastico said:
Isn't this literally Biological Warfare?
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I think that, especially when dealing with a global pandemic that has heightened tensions with China to the point where we are seeing an increase in hate crimes and the Asian community needs to meet with mods to discuss sinophobia on the forum, it is probably wise to wait for more than two photos and a Facebook post to accuse a country of biological warfare over a few seeds.
 
DavidDesu

DavidDesu

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
5,718
Glasgow, Scotland
jph139 said:
My guess is that it lines up with "random junk items" that people get sometimes, particularly after they've purchased something overseas - occasionally you'll get stuff like, I dunno, sunglasses, cheap watches, that sort of thing, from Chinese companies. The logic being that they can report it as a "sale" even if you haven't bought any thing, and use that to pump up their metrics. Same logic as magazines continuing to ship to you after you cancel - your value as a subscriber is higher than the monetary cost of sending you the item.

The fact it's biomatter and not, you know, actual cheap fake jewelry is weird, though.
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Wow. Such a bizarre practice. If you're that corrupt why not just fudge the numbers rather than actually sending out products, no matter how cheap they may be?
 

Deleted member 8468

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Oct 26, 2017
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vs9AG.gif
 
RiOrius

RiOrius

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Oct 27, 2017
6,073
Yeah, no way this is some sort of malicious invasive species plot. If that were the goal, they wouldn't go about it by sending seeds to randos on the internet. There have to be a dozen more effective ways to pull that off than hoping your jewelry customers decide to plant their mystery seeds.
 
Chikor

Chikor

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
14,239
Plant the forbidden seeds you cowards!

RiOrius said:
Yeah, no way this is some sort of malicious invasive species plot. If that were the goal, they wouldn't go about it by sending seeds to randos on the internet. There have to be a dozen more effective ways to pull that off than hoping your jewelry customers decide to plant their mystery seeds.
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Some of you have never opened a history book and it's showing.

3Xnaiz9.jpg


It's all fun and games until a giant comes at you with an axe.
 
Tavernade

Tavernade

Tavernade
Moderator
Sep 18, 2018
8,613
If it is a plot it's doomed to fail, Americans aren't smart enough to wear masks, you really think they can successfully plant a seed, or manage to keep it alive?
 
KarmaCow

KarmaCow

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,153
jph139 said:
My guess is that it lines up with "random junk items" that people get sometimes, particularly after they've purchased something overseas - occasionally you'll get stuff like, I dunno, sunglasses, cheap watches, that sort of thing, from Chinese companies. The logic being that they can report it as a "sale" even if you haven't bought any thing, and use that to pump up their metrics. Same logic as magazines continuing to ship to you after you cancel - your value as a subscriber is higher than the monetary cost of sending you the item.

The fact it's biomatter and not, you know, actual cheap fake jewelry is weird, though.
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Yea the idea this is a biological attack is just stoking racist yellow peril shit.
 
WedgeX

WedgeX

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,167
I am super disappointed that this thread is not titled "Encyclopedia Brown investigates: the case of the mysterious seeds."

Maybe it's just a online ratings scam?

So why is someone, or multiple someones, apparently in China, mailing seeds to unsuspecting people in the United States? Is it a sinister plot, using the fast-growing tendrils of invasive plants to strangle our democracy?

USDA spokesperson Cecilia Sequeira suggests a slightly less ominous explanation: It could be a "brushing scam," where an online seller sends something unsolicited, then writes glowing reviews purporting to be written by those would-be customers.

According to the Better Business Bureau, brushing scams are used by third-party sellers, often based abroad. First, the seller sends an unsolicited product. "They then post a fake, positive review to improve their products' ratings, which means more sales for them," according to a recent post on the bureau's website, warning of such scams on Amazon. "The payoff is highly profitable from their perspective."
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Seeds from across the US seem to be different types:

The USDA is collecting seed packages to determine whether they could harm the environment or agriculture.

The seeds people have received have not all been the same — some large and tan, some tiny and black, some sort of like coffee beans.
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And necessary levity.

Allison Parrell says she didn't initially realize the seeds in her mailbox could be, well … bad seeds. "I hate to say that I actually started to plant them, before I was really thinking deeply about what the seeds were and that they might be something, you know, dangerous."

She planted the seeds in containers — but before they could germinate and begin their potential overthrow of human civilization, Parrell realized what she had done.
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dcist.com

Do Not Plant These! Officials Investigate Mystery Seeds Sent By Mail

Hundreds of people in the region have received seeds from China that they didn't order. Now the feds are investigating.
dcist.com dcist.com
 
SilentPanda

SilentPanda

Member
Nov 6, 2017
13,621
Earth
People in Taiawn are getting it too

The woman, identified as Lin Wen-wen (林文雯), posted on Facebook Tuesday (July 28) that a package had arrived earlier that month but that she had not touched it until recently. The package bears a shipping label printed in simplified Chinese claiming it contains potting soil from Shanghai, but the names of two senders are unknown to Lin.
Due to her concerns about scams, and later, safety, Lin reacted with caution and did not open it. She informed the Council of Agriculture of the matter and was asked to send the parcel to the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ) Keelung Branch for further investigation.
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www.taiwannews.com.tw

Suspicious parcel from China reported in Taiwan following US warnings | Taiwan News | 2020-07-29 10:25:00

Woman receives mysterious package containing soil, sends it to authorities for inspection | 2020-07-29 10:25:00
www.taiwannews.com.tw www.taiwannews.com.tw

And Canada also got it too but it say is from Taiwan Free zone, which is not from Taiwan, but mean it pass through Taiwan.

tw.news.yahoo.com

加國也收到種子包裹 寄出地是台灣

國際中心／黃朝郁報導 近日許多國家的民眾紛紛收到來自中國的詭異包裹，內藏有不明土壤、種子，讓各國官員緊急呼籲民眾切勿隨意丟棄、種植，避免國內生態環境被外來物種入侵，台灣也有出
tw.news.yahoo.com tw.news.yahoo.com
 
Kendrid

Kendrid

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,127
Chicago, IL
We have these arriving in northern Illinois. It is on the news to get the word out to turn them in for analysis.
I'm not a plant person but wouldn't one be able to identify the seeds based upon looks?
 
PanzerKraken

PanzerKraken

Member
Nov 1, 2017
14,974
I love how they have to put a warning to not plant the seeds. When I get random seeds in the mail, I got out of my way to plant em
 
Mr. Wonderful

Mr. Wonderful

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,290
People do realize that throwing these away isn't exactly the best idea, either, right? They end up going to the dump.
 
dalq

dalq

Member
Feb 13, 2018
1,101
10 bucks says that this is some Wish.com scam where people bought gold earrings for 99 cents and got shipped tangerine seeds from the scammer
 
Dehnus

Dehnus

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
1,900
Pet said:
Who the fuck plants random seeds from the internet they didn't order?



Yes, literally.
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I would, just not outside, keep that shit inside in a little greenhouse :). I love plants, and discovering something cute and adorable is how I discovered my pet lemon tree :).
 
jwk94

jwk94

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,418
This is so weird. My friend just got some too. How are they even getting people's address?
 
WedgeX

WedgeX

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,167
The USDA has identified the world-ending threats that people have mysteriously received.

All 50 states have issued warnings about the packages some of which contain flowering plants like morning glory, hibiscus and roses, according to Osama El-Lissy, with the Plant Protection program of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. El-Lissy said other packages contain vegetables like cabbage and herbs including mint, sage, rosemary, and lavender.
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www.usatoday.com

USDA identifies some of the mysterious, unsolicited seeds after all 50 states issue warnings

All 50 states have issued warnings about the packages some of which contain morning glory, hibiscus, roses, cabbage, mustard, mint, sage and rosemary.
www.usatoday.com
 
captscience

captscience

Member
Oct 25, 2017
171
That's crazy! I've received at least a dozen of these shady packages. Most from China, some from Kyrgyzstan. My wife bought tons of seeds off Amazon and we'd assumed these were things she forgot she ordered.

Thankfully we threw them all away when we didn't know exactly what the were.
 
BLEEN

BLEEN

Member
Oct 27, 2017
21,869
This is how the Tree of Heaven rears its ugly head again.
(Insanely invasive species - more commonly known as Stinkweed.)

Strange tree it is, took me years to realize it was an actual tree.

I'll take free seeds any day—just know where or if to plant them.

Edit* removed two ToH from our yard yesterday after a decade of them doing what they do best lol
 
R0b1n

R0b1n

Member
Jun 29, 2018
7,787
Would love to receive some hibiscus for free tbh. It's a pretty plant and grows well where I am
 
cameron

cameron

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
23,807
WedgeX said:
The USDA has identified the world-ending threats that people have mysteriously received.


www.usatoday.com

USDA identifies some of the mysterious, unsolicited seeds after all 50 states issue warnings

All 50 states have issued warnings about the packages some of which contain morning glory, hibiscus, roses, cabbage, mustard, mint, sage and rosemary.
www.usatoday.com
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packages some of which contain flowering plants like morning glory, hibiscus and roses
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My neighbour has two giant potted hibiscus trees that they bring outside every summer. The trees are gorgeous when they're flowering.
 
Samurai_Heart

Samurai_Heart

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,676
captscience said:
That's crazy! I've received at least a dozen of these shady packages. Most from China, some from Kyrgyzstan. My wife bought tons of seeds off Amazon and we'd assumed these were things she forgot she ordered.

Thankfully we threw them all away when we didn't know exactly what the were.
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Apparently that this was the very plausible explanation, and it was your forgotten Amazon orders and people gifting seeds to one another
 
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