A TEMU scam that’s not TEMU’s fault
By Greg Collier
Last week, we gave our opinion on the online shopping platform TEMU. We advised our readers that TEMU is full of third-party vendors who are getting a reputation for selling knockoffs if an item is delivered at all. TEMU itself has been accused of stockpiling customers’ personal information for less than legitimate purposes. This is all made even more suspicious since TEMU is based in China, where laws concerning personal information are looser than those in the US. However, there’s a scam now going around using TEMU’s name where TEMU isn’t responsible.
Across social media, ads are being placed where a $1 ‘mystery box’ appears to be offered by TEMU. The ad shows boxes full of high-end items like phones, laptops, and other pricey computer equipment. While TEMU does offer mystery boxes for sale, they’re not being sold for $1, and it’s almost a guarantee an iPhone won’t be included.
If someone clicks on the ad, they’re taken to a third-party website that has no connection to TEMU. Once at the site, users are asked to enter personal and financial information to receive their supposed mystery box. This is an obvious ploy to use the name of the latest shopping sensation in order to steal someone’s identity and money.
If you see ads like this that sound too good to be true on social media, they probably are. If you do click on an ad that appears to come from a well-known service, make sure the URL of the website is the correct one. If the URL doesn’t reflect the service you were looking to use, close out of that site immediately, even if it looks identical to the real thing. To best protect yourself when shopping online, use a credit card whenever possible, since credit cards offer more protection when it comes to fraudulent products.
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