Plastic Seeds in the mail
6No… Not really. But it is weird and they look like plastic seeds and made me think of the Chinese seeds.
Recently received a package from Amazon of " 200 plastic ear ring backs" with an amazon gift note “Happy admin assistant day. We love you, love Deborah”
There are several things weird with this:
- I don’t know anyone named Deborah.
- I don’t wear earrings.
- I’m not an admin assistant.
- No one would say they love me… :p
- When I checked the “say thank you” link, it went through with my account, I could have left a message, so appears it was sent to my account.
I would assume it is a mistake and got sent to wrong person but,
- my Amazon account includes in part my name, which isn’t a woman’s name (nor is it a common name) so unlikely to be a typo.
- Admin assistant day was April sometime (I Googled it) and Pitney Bowes was not the deliverer to explain the 4 month delay.
- Unless someone’s inside joke, it’s a pretty weird and cheap gift to give someone.
I almost sent a “thank you” to the sender on the given Amazon URL and explained that they may need to contact Amazon, they could follow the “problem with my order path” whereas, since I didn’t place the order I don’t think I’d get far.
… But then, I didn’t know if this was a scam and sending a reply would confirm I’m a real person.
I’ve heard of brushing scams when they send you cheap crap and associate your address with a fake account and write reviews on your behalf for a more expensive product, but when I clicked the “send thank you” link on the gift receipt to tell them they got the wrong person (before deciding best not to), it did indeed show earring backers.
Not sure the right thing to do here, don’t want to deprive someone their “gift” if it is a gift, which seems a weird gift… But at same time, if I respond to the sender they know I’m real, if this is some kind of scam. Not looking forwards to hours on the phone waiting for an Amazon rep.
Thoughts? Is this a brushing scam? Do brushing scams usually contain gift receipts with messages?
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When I need to contact Amazon for any reason, I prefer to go here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/general-questions.html
rather than trying to do anything by phone. But I hate phones. Amazon support has always gotten back to me when I contacted them via the web, but it sometimes takes 24 hours.
Third-party sellers will try some weird stuff to try to get a direct link to a buyer’s e-mail, so I never respond directly to them. It could be a brushing scheme, or it could simply be a way to get a legit e-mail address for some other reason - like adding you to their list of “verified buyers”, or using your addy as a “reply to” address for spam.
@rockblossom thanks I’ll send a comment there instead of the “thank them” link and see what Amazon says.
@OnionSoup
Also just read this - China is sending more than seeds now.
“If you receive a brushing parcel it is vital that you hand it in to the police so that they can forward it to the US postal inspector’s office for the purpose of tracking where it came from. Items received could be dangerous, which means that they must be disposed of correctly.”
Walsh explained that there is no evidence of a brushing scam leading to crimes like identity theft and bank fraud.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/not-just-seeds—all-kinds-of-mystery-packages-are-arriving-from-china/ar-BB17BrkM?li=BBnb7Kz
This is part of a national investigation. The government has said to not plant the seeds and contact authorities so they can collect them as evidence over fears that it could introduce invasive species which can wreak havoc in local ecosystem. They believe it likely is a brushing scam, but want to collect more information as they are marked with Chinese postage and list the items as jewelry so they can get through customs. The Chinese government has said they do not originate from China.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/29/us/seed-packages-brushing-scam-trnd/index.html
There are plenty more stories out there, I’m sure some more recent but link I found on a quick search.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. As said in my original post. They weren’t actually seeds they were plastic earring backs and they were from Amazon not China.
The title was a play on the phenomenon of the seeds coming from China (the ear ring backs looked a little like seeds and it could be a brushing scam). I was just being playful in my title.
I did not receive seeds. They are not from China. The title was a metaphor.
But thanks for the information.
@OnionSoup Did you try eating them?
@ELUNO no. How would you recommend I eat them? Raw, toasted, or perhaps I could turn them into a pseudo-bubble tea Japanese style.
@OnionSoup yes
@ELUNO @OnionSoup No. No. Those plastic backings must be planted out in rows, spaced 6 inches apart and 1 inch deep, in dirt mixed with plastic, shredded styrofoam, and toxic household chemicals. Keep them watered with industrial waste mixed with runoff from an asphalt roof until they sprout. In a few months, you should have a nice little crop of earring trees that you can sell on Etsy.
@ELUNO @OnionSoup I believe you can sprinkle them over tide pods for a delicious sesame crunch
@djslack @OnionSoup sounds delicious!
@djslack @ELUNO @OnionSoup And it will clean your teeth at the same time so no need to brush afterwards… the things they invent during the pandemic when some people have too much time on their hands
This is weird because if it was sent through Amazon they wouldn’t get your address or anything. Did the link need you to log in? Was it a real Amazon url? Unless there was a note to send an email or something I can’t figure out how this could be an effective scam
@chellemonkey The scam is that they are claiming sales and getting fake reviews on their accounts.
@chellemonkey I’m not sure how or why it would work either… It was a legitimate Amazon (send thank you) URL on the gift receipt for and everything looked legit.
That’s why I’m not sure if it is a scam or not. If really a gift, it doesn’t make sense… And if a scam, it doesn’t make sense.
https://www.cyclonis.com/what-is-brushing-scam-how-does-it-work/
But they don’t need to use your account to send you a “gift”. A seller sets up an account with (cheap) items available in one of the Amazon warehouses. Then they set up a separate “personal” account, send gifts of their own items in the warehouse to Amazon account holders. Once you reply with a “thank you” or whatever, then they have established that you are a “genuine purchaser” of their products, and they will write reviews of their own products (not the cheap ones they sent, but higher profit stuff), which will show up on Amazon as from you (or your “sender”) with a tag of “Verified Purchase” attached. VP reviews tend to pop to the top and are more heavily weighted in the star ratings, so an item can get a close-to-5-star rating for a trash (or counterfeit) item without Amazon catching on.
The above is one of many reasons I don’t trust star ratings on Amazon, even from “verified purchasers” unless the write-up shows they have actually used the thing. One word reviews, or 5 stars attached to a review that says it was sent to someone as a gift and they “liked it” - are highly suspect.
Another related scam - send cheap nothing to address in same zip code as a purchase of an an expensive item. Seller has tracking showing delivered when you try to file for not receiving the item.
Although I have generally had good experience with their online chat and telephone callbacks, I prefer calling Amazon Customer Service directly at 1-888-280-4331.
The owner at my work asked me to come by his office the other day. He received a lightning/USB thumb drive from Amazon that he said he didn’t order. I learned about brushing this week because of that.
Are they silicone or plastic? Give them a good review if silicone ear ring backings. They’re great.
@medz you didn’t send them to me did you… Lol… You’re not Deborah by any chance and using me for a brushing scheme… :p
Let’s get to the real ‘heart’ of the matter here.
Aww… I love you. (In a ‘you’re a pretty awesome person’ kind of way.)
DIPLOMAT! RAT-A-TAT! FAT CAT! AWESOME!
@cinoclav Aw, everyone loves @OnionSoup. Or at least I love real onion soup, with cheese on top.
@cinoclav @ThunderChicken awwwwww!