Today I received a package of gemstones before I ordered them.
I'm not sure if this is a glitch or maybe an algorithm based fishing scam.
I had a jewelry business years ago that I really want to start up again. So I've been ordering lots of gemstones, rough and cut. Some from reliable but expensive sources, and some cheap dhit off of Wish and ebay. Those ones nearly always turn out to be fake, but I get my money back and then can still use them for practice or for low-cost fashion pieces.
I have not yet used Aliexpress, but a subreddit about gemstones had a list of good vendors there, so I just today downloaded the app and was looking around. I started putting some things in my cart but didn't make a purchase.
Then this afternoon I checked my mail outside, and there was a package from the United Arab Emerites. I opened it and it was full of tumbled low-grade garnets. I didn't remember ordering these from Wish or ebay, so I checked my whole purchase histories and found nothing of the sort. Odd. I figured some vendor must have mixed up my order... I could figure it out later...
I went back and opened Aliexpress just now to decide on which gems to order, and the first thing in a gallery of suggested purchases was a lot of tumbled garnets for only a few dollars. They were identical to the ones I just got in the mail that I hadn't ordered. I checked the vendor on the listing and then the address on the package. Same place!
Had I seen this ad before checking my mail, I am quite certain that I would have taken the gamble to buy rough tumbled garnets for so low a price. I like garnets. A single average quality garnet can cost more than this whole package, so I definitely would have gone for it.
It's probably some fishing scam. I don't know. Weird.## TLDR Summary: