NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — People in Tennessee and several other states have reported receiving mysterious masks addressed from China, about a month after seeds from the country showed up unsolicited.
The sheriff’s office in Tazewell County, Virginia posted a warning Monday night about people in the county receiving packages from China containing masks they did not order. The department urged people to throw them away immediately.
Following that alert, several people living in Tennessee reported receiving similar unsolicited masks from China over the last few weeks, including Benny Hale who lives in Shelbyville.
“We seen that it was a single mask and we were sitting there like ‘we didn’t order that, why are they sending us masks?’ Hale explained to News 2.
He added, “we didn’t order them, so we ain’t taking no chances, so we went on and disposed of them.”
A resident of Holladay also reported receiving the masks and disposing of them.
The situation is similar to unsolicited seeds delivered to residents of Tennessee and other states last month. The USDA said it believes the seeds could be a “brushing scam,” where people receive unsolicited items from a seller who then posts false customer reviews in an attempt to boost sales.
The USDA has not said whether it believes the masks could also be part of a similar scam.
