Clark County — A Clark County man said he found a package of toys from China in the mail that he nor his wife ordered – experts say it could be a variation of the ‘mystery seed’ phenomenon sweeping the country.
Forest Shingler said the package was in his mailbox on Monday. When he opened it, he found two orange paratrooper toys wrapped in plastic with no other paperwork.
The package was addressed to him and the return address seemed to be from a province in Asia.
“When I saw it, I thought ‘Oh, what is this?,’” he told News Center 7′s Jenna Lawson.
The strange package was similar to mystery seed packs that people around the country are finding in their mailboxes.
Experts say both could be part of what’s called a ‘brushing scam.’
“It’s theft of information. They’re hoping you’ll write a review about it and usually it’s not from a really reputable source,” said Sandra Guile with the Better Business Bureau.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office said in an email that in return, the reputation of the seller is bolstered, which may have a positive impact on their business. Their office hadn’t received any reports from consumers about brushing scams lately.
The Ohio State University Extenstion Office in Clark County says if you do receive those seed packs in the mail, you shouldn’t throw them away and you shouldn’t plant them because they could be an invasive species of plant that hurts other plants or animals.
Instead, either mail them or take them to your county’s OSU extension office or contact the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
People should check the days and hours that their local extension office open.
In Ohio, the USDA APHIS contact is:
John Burch USDA, APHIS, PPQ 8995 East Main Street Bromfield Bldg, Room 202 Reynoldsburg, OH 43068 Phone: (614) 322-4700 Fax: (614) 322-4704 Email: John.M.Burch@usda.gov
Shinger said he will probably throw the toys away. He hasn’t even removed them from their plastic wrapping.
In this case, he’d rather be safe than sorry.
“I’m not gonna give them to the grandkids because I really don’t know what they’re made of,” he said.
It’s also possible that the unwarranted packages mean that personal information has been compromised, and anyone receiving them may want to change passwords to any online shopping websites.
Cox Media Group
