Found a great deal on Temu? Before you fill in your credit card details, watch this viral video by ang & phoe (@angelikapheveya). The TikToker claims that after she gave her information to the Shanghai-based online marketplace, her bank account was drained of $400.
@angelikapheveya Replying to @user899262 ♬ original sound – ang & phoe
The creator’s video—which has amassed 10.2 million views since it was posted to TikTok—explains how Temu slowly drained her account with a series of small withdrawals. “They took $400 dollars but it was in like very small portions, [over the course of] two months,” she says.
“So, like, once a day, they would take out like $3, so you don’t catch onto it,” she continues.
The TikToker received multiple suspicious-activity warnings from her bank but, ironically, did not click on the link provided in the emails because she suspected the messages themselves were fraud. She says that she thought, “I’m not falling for this sh*t. I know they just want me to click the link [so] they can hack me.”
Eventually, she began to suspect that the emails were actually real. “’Cause I couldn’t buy something today and my card wouldn’t link up,” she claims.
The content creator maintains that the debit card fraud was a result of Temu selling her card info on “the black market.” As she tells it, she was presented with a three-page document highlighting fraudulent charges on her card.
“All of [the charges] were from, like, different countries,” she tells her viewers, “because the black market people use a different IP address or something.”
“I have reason to believe this happened through TEMU,” she adds in her caption. “However, this could have happened from any [of the] apps I entered my details into.”
The video generated plenty of comments from users who are scared the same thing might happen to them if they use Temu.
“This is why I’ve never had anything to do with Temu,” wrote one person.
“I’ve just done my second order! Omg now I’m scared!!!” another commented.
“I thought it was sketchy so [I] used a card that only had the amount I needed,” someone else said.
On the other hand, a number of viewers described positive experiences with Temu and its heavily discounted items.
“Nothing’s wrong with Temu … I’ve [bought] off them twice & I’ll buy again,” wrote one TikToker.
“I’ve been using Temu for ages and this hasn’t happened,” added another.
The Daily Dot reached out to the creator via TikTok comment.