- Mysterious seeds from China have been shipped to Americans in all 50 states, an investigation has found.
- Recipients received various types of seeds, some of them being common and harmless seeds that one might plant in their garden. others were harmful to the soil.
- The mystery appears to have been a major scam targeting people whose online accounts have been compromised.
The novel coronavirus pandemic was undoubtedly the biggest and scariest thing to happen in 2020, but it’s not the strangest thing to happen last year. there were many strange happenings in one year that many will remember for a long time. Thousands of Americans received unsolicited seed packets containing mysterious Chinese seeds last year.
We have seen many reports on the subject since 2020. People detailed their experiences with unexpected deliveries. It turns out that the mystery was bigger than anyone thought. But the USDA gave a simple explanation for it. China did not carry out some kind of carefully orchestrated agricultural swindle against the United States with the help of nefarious seeds, as some might have believed. but it was still a scam.
mysterious seeds from china explained
An incredibly detailed report from Motherboard shows that thousands of Americans from all 50 states received such packages over the summer, with various agencies investigating the matter. USDA warned the public not to plant the seeds or ingest them.
In addition to the USDA’s Contraband Interdiction and Trade Compliance Group (SITC), the FBI and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have launched their own investigations. some of the recipients of seeds planted them. others went ahead and ate them.
“i planted them in my hydroponic system at home, i thought they were the strawberry seeds i ordered on amazon. they turned black and green mold so i threw them away,” wrote one person from michigan.
“I’ve been fighting this for a couple of weeks. Now where I planted them, and I remember where I planted them, everything in the garden where I planted them is going through a bad time and is starting to die,” said a woman from New Mexico in a voice message. she planted the seeds after thinking that she was supposed to have received them.
Are they dangerous?
While these stories may be scary, they seemed to support conspiracy theories that China is carrying out some kind of attack. but the authorities who investigated the matter found that some of the seeds are not harmful. It’s not just one species, but many well-known plants, including “rose, amaranth (not palm), 2 mints, false horse balm, self-healing, lespedeza, and sweet potato,” according to a lab in Utah. new mexico identified onion, cucumber, tomato, radish, peppergrass, alfalfa, corn, lettuce, hollyhock, and spearmint seeds.
a different person discovered that he obtained oregano seeds and consumed the resulting harvest.
other seeds are “noxious weeds” that already exist in the united states. But people are prohibited from planting them, according to analysis from New Mexico. local news departments have reported this for the past year.
what is a brushing campaign and why did they send seeds by mail?
While authorities had no idea what was going on in the first few weeks of the shipments, they finally got some answers. The USDA found that they were part of a brushing campaign and were not actually intended to cause harm. whether or not they caused harm is a bigger issue. motherboard explains:
eventually, the official line became that this was a ‘brushing’ campaign, in which items of little value are sent to people whose online accounts have been compromised, or sent to people as a ‘ gift’ to leave. a positive review from a ‘verified buyer’ (having a higher weight because the person nominally purchased and used the product), must have purchased or received an item, so receiving seeds will weight reviews from that account or highest name.
It is still unclear who is behind the scam and what the full purpose was. But the USDA investigation was closed earlier this year. There haven’t been many reports of mystery seeds from China since then. if you have received seeds in the mail, they are probably the ones you ordered.
this didn’t just happen in the united states
As reported in July of this year, The Atlantic had a deep dive into this scam. There were also seeds sent to the UK, actually before the US.
On the morning of June 5th, a woman named Sue Westerdale, who lives in a small town in the North of England, posted to the “veg gardening uk” facebook group about something peculiar. She had received a mysterious package of porcelain seeds, described on the envelope as “earrings”, and she wondered if this had happened to someone else.
The report found that Facebook groups were a primary way people shared that they had received these seeds. It spread to the United States as well. Groups like the louisiana department of agriculture and forestry facebook page or the aforementioned “veg gardening uk” were flooded with messages.
coronavirus concerns for china seeds
The fact that this was happening in the midst of a global pandemic added to the apprehension. people were worried that there would be targeted biological attacks in the world. no one can blame them either. however, after extensive investigations, it appears that the timing has more to do with compromised amazon accounts than a direct attack.
Hopefully, this is the last we’ve heard of this for a while. but this may still happen.
previous examples of brushing scams
Forbes dove into this topic in 2017. The article looked at Chinese packages appearing in Pennsylvania clearly targeting people living in the houses. hair bows were the stuff of history then. but the author pointed out that the new landscape of cross-border shipping opens many avenues for scams.
In a world where goods can be shipped virtually anywhere more or less freely, borders have become huge loopholes for criminals to break the laws of the country to which they ship goods. For the most part, if the seller of a product is across an international line from the buyer, then no rules, regulations, or laws apply; IP, consumer safety and postal laws become moot as the country where the crime originates is out of legal reach for parties seeking retribution. Cross-border e-commerce has become the new “Wild West,” a place where anything goes, including sending women halfway around the world with piles of unwanted hair ties.
what to do if you receive a package?
As if we’ve seen it, this is something that happens more often than we realize. in fact, amazon users are already being warned for this year. the possibility of receiving unwanted packages this holiday season is high. If you receive something in the mail that you did not order, you should report it to the dealer. For seeds, contacting the local police is also a good step. don’t plant them. you should report it to the dealer and if anything looks suspicious, contact your local police.
You don’t want your identity stolen, so be on the lookout for something you didn’t order. Also, similar to a suspicious email you may receive, do not reveal any contact information. this absolutely includes your social security number, phone number, credit card number, and more. stay safe out there.