A man in Arkansas received a very mysterious parcel in the mail, and proceeded to plant the seeds found in it in his garden.
Doyle Crenshaw, who lives in Booneville, Arkansas, was shocked to find a parcel, initially advertised as containing jewelry, but instead, it held seeds. To make the situation even more puzzling, the return address on the package was from China, per WVLT.
Instead of being cautious, Doyle decided to plant the seeds, hoping to see what they would grow into. Little did he know, this seemingly innocent act could have turned into a nightmare.
Local authorities, including Scott Bray from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, quickly became concerned.
"Our concern is from an invasive-pest aspect; these seeds could introduce an invasive weed or an invasive insect pest or a plant disease," Bray said. However, the situation didn’t take the dire turn authorities feared.
As it turns out, the seeds sprouted into a large plant bearing white fruits and orange flowers, which some experts compared to a squash plant.
Doyle nurtured the plant by applying Miracle-Gro every two weeks, and the plant flourished. Despite the strange origins of the seeds, no invasive species were introduced, much to the relief of authorities, per 5News.
Experts were unsure exactly what type of plant it was, but Doyle’s unusual gardening project quickly garnered attention.
While the outcome was benign, there were suspicions that Doyle had fallen victim to a "brushing" scam, a type of fraudulent marketing tactic.
In a "brushing" scam, vendors send unsolicited products to unsuspecting recipients in order to artificially inflate product ratings and visibility online.
The Whitehouse Police Department explained the situation in 2020, stating that "these seeds are tied with an online scam called 'brushing'."
Though the seeds were not directly dangerous, authorities advised Doyle to contact them for guidance on proper disposal. The incident was part of a broader trend, with reports of similar situations cropping up elsewhere.
Just a few years later, another case surfaced in the U.S. when a woman near Chicago, Isabelle Wood, began receiving an unexpected flood of parcels from Temu, a Chinese retailer, per Inside Edition.
Isabelle claimed that she received hundreds of items, including chess sets, pleather jackets, a karaoke machine, and a camera.
Despite her reaching out to the company, the parcels kept arriving. It is now believed that Isabelle's address was being exploited in another brushing scam, highlighting the growing concerns surrounding unsolicited packages.
Would you plant random seeds in your garden?