Christmas prank or desperate cry for help? That is the question authorities have on their minds after a second Primark shopper discovered a letter claiming to be from a tortured Chinese slave laborer in a pair of budget socks.

Shahkiel Akbar discovered the letter. The call center worker from Fenham, Newcastle, enlisted aid in translating the letter – which he suspected was a desperate cry for help – into English.

This is the second time a Primark shopper discovered a letter in a pair of socks claiming to be from a tortured Chinese prisoner this month. The first letter was written in Mandarin on Chinese brand Ruitai paper, and claimed to have been sent by a 39-year-old prisoner named Ting Kun Ding from Anhui Province.

Chinese whispers

“It was folded up in the bottom of one of the socks, which my dad found upon putting them on,” Lucy Kirk told the U.K.’s Metro.⁽¹⁾

“I have been in touch with Primark, but some information I wasn’t willing to give them,” Lucy said.⁽¹⁾

“I felt if I gave them too much information on the product they would be able to track this and there would be consequences for workers,” she added.⁽¹⁾

The second letter, which was tightly folded, was seemingly from the same Chinese man, who claimed to be in a stand against his government and in desperate need of assistance.

A spokesman for Primark claims the entire charade is an elaborate hoax, with several letters popping up throughout the country. They state that they believe their products are being hijacked by a publicity stunt, and claim that the letters have nothing to do with staff or suppliers.

“The Primark name is being used to gain publicity for the plight of this individual. We have found no link at all between this individual and any of our suppliers’ factories in China. We think it is likely that the note was added after production and it is feasible it was added in transit or at a port,” the spokesman said.⁽²⁾

The note hoax

Shahkiel found the letter a couple of weeks after purchasing the socks. “I was just thinking; ‘What is this?’ when I found it,” he told sources.⁽²⁾

“I knew it was something sinister when I saw it. I was really shocked. I do feel responsible now I have found this. I just thought I need to shout it out.”⁽²⁾

In order to translate the message, Shahkiel took the letter to his local Chinese takeaway staff see if they could decipher its meaning. However, the owner said he was Korean and could not read the message.

Resolute to decipher the meaning behind the words, Shahkiel used a cellphone app to translate the message into English.

“It was an SOS from a 39-year-old man living in China. From the words I could translate you could see he was distressed,” he said. “It seemed like he was risking a lot to try and get a message out. He said he had endured physical and psychological abuse and that he was forced to make these socks. It felt like a real burden to me,” Shahkiel said.⁽¹⁾

The messages haven’t been limited to socks, either. Last June, a similar cry for help was discovered in Primark clothes. “We have been the subject of a number of hoaxes in the past,” the Primark spokesperson told sources.⁽²⁾

“This allegation that a note was found in a Primark sock, cannot be corroborated because sadly neither the product, the packaging or a receipt has been given to us, despite the fact we have asked for them repeatedly. Unfortunately, without this information we cannot investigate,” they added.⁽²⁾

Sources include:

(1) Metro.co.uk

(2) Metro.co.uk