June 30, 2026
Seeds of Scam-dal
Scammers Sell Seeds for Exotic AI-Generated Flowers That Don't Exist
Buyers Wanted Dream Flowers, Commenters Saw Triffids, Demon Shrimps, and a Scam Boom
TLDR: Fake flower seed sellers are using made-up pictures to trick shoppers on major online marketplaces, and some listings sold in huge numbers before getting removed. Commenters swung from laughing at nightmare sunflowers to warning that this same image-making trick is becoming a serious tool for fraud.
The internet has discovered a new low-stakes, high-chaos scam: selling seeds for plants that literally do not exist. Online shops on Etsy, eBay, and Amazon are using flashy artificial-intelligence-made pictures to peddle “rainbow roses,” giant purple “teddy bear” sunflowers, and leafy horrors that look like butterflies, birds, and, according to the article, even “screaming demon shrimps.” And the truly wild part? People have bought them by the thousands.
But in the comment section, the mood is less “wow, pretty” and more “we are so cooked.” One commenter said we spend too much time arguing about whether AI makes mistakes and not enough time talking about the obvious: scammers love it. Another brought real workplace drama, saying they’re getting requests to make fake scam images and even fake IDs, which turned the conversation from funny garden nonsense into a much darker “this is bigger than flowers” debate. That was the hottest take by far.
Still, the community did not let the absurdity go to waste. One person said the giant teddy bear sunflower images were “horrifying” and looked like something out of Day of the Triffids, which honestly feels generous. Another pointed out that some weird-looking flowers do exist, linking the very real monkey orchid, because nature itself is apparently determined to blur the line between scam and nightmare fuel. And then there was the drive-by roast of the hilariously misspelled seller name “SheilaDegisn,” which feels like the kind of red flag that should come with sirens.
Key Points
- •The article reports that scammers are using AI-generated images to sell seeds for plants that do not exist on marketplaces including Etsy, eBay, and Amazon.
- •It says fake-seed scams existed before modern AI image tools, but AI has made the practice easier to scale and harder for platforms to moderate.
- •Examples in the article include exaggerated or fabricated listings for 'teddy bear' sunflowers, fake rose seeds, rainbow seeds, and other impossible-looking plants.
- •The article cites public marketplace data showing large sales volumes, including 37,271 sales for fake rose seeds on eBay before the seller was banned and 1,301 sales for fake giant teddy bear sunflower seeds.
- •The article says the scam also appears beyond large retailers, including on Reddit- and Facebook-linked discussions and dedicated seed-selling sites, and that buyers risk wasting money or receiving different seeds than advertised.