In an already packed weird year , you may have miss that peoplearound the US , and indeedthe world , have been receiving pack of closed book seed .
The germ , which come out to have been sent from China , prompt warning fromat least 27 statesalong the lines of " do not found the mystery seeds , " sometimes all in caps for a bit of supererogatory " What are these , triffids ? " intrigue .
The warning were plan , not to protect you from valet - eating triffids ( though it ’s always best to be on the safe side ) , but because pathogens , contaminates , or insect could be hidden within the packaging , or the seed themselves could belong to trespassing metal money . The US Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) urged anyone who receives a mystical unsolicited udder of seeds tocontact their land regulatorand hold onto the computer software until they are given further instructions .
After further investigating by the USDA , we now sleep with what the secret seeds are . Brace yourselves for a lack of resolve , because it does nothing to illumine the motive of the sender .
" We have key out 14 dissimilar mintage of seeded player , let in mustard , scratch , dawn glory , and some herbs like mint , salvia , rosemary , lavender , then other seeds like hibiscus and blush wine , " Osama El - Lissy from the Plant Protection political program of USDA ’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Servicesaid in a radio interview . " This is just a subset of the samples we ’ve collected so far . "
So far , so innocuous . Who does n’t like to be institutionalize a endearing bit of pot ? So what ’s in it for the senders ?
" At this time , we do n’t have any grounds indicating this is something other than a ' brushing scam ' where masses get unasked detail from a trafficker who then posts false customer review to boost sales , " the USDA sound out in astatement .
basically , hoi polloi send out the packages to random people and then review the product under a false name on sites like Amazon . This then boosts their seller rating , and their genuine products ( plausibly not seeds ) set out depict up in more hoi polloi ’s search results while they shop .
In the meanwhile , the USDA is still collecting samples to try and determine if they contain anything that could be " of concern to US agriculture or the environment " . It urge on anyone who receive a mysterious unasked bag of seeds tocontact their state regulatorand hold onto the package until they are given further statement .
