The mysterious Chinese seeds have strike the tony enclave of East Hampton.

East Hampton resident Jenny Carmona, a stylist at Amagansett’s LaParlour salon, posted a shot of unsolicited seeds despatched from Suzhou, China, on her Facebook webpage this week noting: “So, no jokes Acquired this in the mail 2 times back. I DID NOT buy any seeds from China.”

She afterwards updated her article indicating, “NY Division of agriculture directed me to seal them In a Ziploc bag and mail it to them. If you get them do the very same. All the states are reporting these suspicious specimens in accordance to the section of agriculture.”

One more East Hampton resident and his wife also acquired the creepy offers.

The seeds initial begun showing up in the starting of July in Utah and Virginia but were afterwards found in Texas and across the United States, normally marked as jewellery.

The US Division of Agriculture suggests the puzzling deals seem to be portion of a “brushing scam” — where by individuals receive objects they by no means purchased from a seller who then posts wrong shopper reviews to boost product sales.

The company is urging residents to report the packages and issued the warning: “Do not plant seeds from not known origins.”

While some have speculated that the seeds could be aspect of an evil plot to get around the United States by invasive crops – experts pooh-pooh that concept.

“The photos circulating on the internet advise the seeds are lots of distinctive species, often vegetable seeds this kind of as tomato, cucumber, citrus and sunflower. Seeds can, of course, harbor pests and pathogens, and in all probability some of the species would incorporate acknowledged invaders. So in the grand plan, it would seem unlikely the seeds will be invasive crops to devour the US,” reported Jason Fridley, an associate professor of biology at Syracuse University’s University of Arts and Sciences.

The New York Point out Section of Agriculture and Markets told The Publish Thursday that it has received a lot more than 500 experiences of the shipments.

“Our place of work has gained issues from a couple New Yorkers who have acquired unsolicited packages allegedly sent from China that are marked as made up of jewelry (or other products) but which truly include plant seeds,” Commissioner of Agriculture Richard Ball claimed in a statement Monday.

“Similar deals have been acquired in other states and the United States Section of Agriculture is investigating.

“People who receive seeds should not plant or handle the seeds,” Ball’s statement mentioned. “They should store them safely in a spot youngsters and animals can’t access and email USDA instantly at erich.l.glasgow@usda.gov for guidance. Seeds imported into the United States are rigorously tested to be certain high-quality and avoid introduction of invasive species, insects and conditions. We will proceed to monitor this problem and will go along direction as it is received from USDA.”

Any one who gets the unsolicited offers should immediately get hold of the community plant regulatory officers or the Animal and Plant Overall health Inspection Company in their state, the USDA said.

“Please keep onto the seeds and packaging, together with the mailing label, till anyone from your state department of agriculture or APHIS contacts you with even further instructions,” the company stated in a statement.