Temu has been steadily gaining popularity as an affordable online marketplace, but according to one woman’s warning, people should avoid the site altogether.
In a viral video that has amassed 2.1 million views, TikTok user A M B E R (@allthingsambur) explains why she thinks the site is dangerous.
@allthingsambur Straight sus wtf
♬ original sound – A M B E R 🤍
“Don’t use f*cking Temu,” she begins.
The TikToker explains that she signed up for the site so that her daughter could take advantage of sales and coupons they offer to users who invite others to sign up. After browsing the site, she decided to make a purchase and linked her PayPal account for payment. That’s when things took a sharp, downhill turn.
“I made this order like two days ago,” she continues. “Tell me why I f*cking woke up this morning, checked my phone, and saw three emails from PayPal.”
Apparently, PayPal reached out to her via email because a new number was added to her account. Someone had initiated two-step verification on her account, which had also been changed from a private to a business account. The problem? She says she wasn’t responsible for the account changes—and she could no longer log on.
“It’s saying that it’s sending a code to my authenticator app,” she said. “I don’t have no f*cking authenticator app.”
She was finally able to access her PayPal and undo the changes that were made without her permission. She also changed her password.
“It doesn’t look like … any transactions … had taken place.”
Nonetheless, the ordeal left her wondering if her purchase on Temu is the reason why her account was compromised.
“I’m convinced this site is f*cking leaking your information,” she concludes.
The creator isn’t the first TikToker to call out Temu for its suspicious practices, but many users in the comments section don’t think Temu is to blame.
“Been using Temu for months with my Apple Pay,” one TikToker commented. “No issues.”
Some users believe it was actually PayPal that was at fault for the data breach.
“I’ve bought from Temu from my credit card and checking account. Never had a problem, must be PayPal,” another user said.
“I’ve been using TEMU forever,” someone else added. “I never had any issues at all… Was it PayPal? I love TEMU and I love everything I’ve bought with them… Weird.”
Though many aren’t convinced Temu is responsible for this woman’s PayPal account getting hacked, the discount shopping site is known to gather information from its more than 100 million users, and has come under fire for its data mining practices.
That means that personal information—like names, addresses, phone numbers, and birthdays—and even technical data, such as operating systems, IP addresses, and GPS locations (if permission is granted), aren’t safe when users access the site.
The Daily Dot reached out to A M B E R via TikTok comment, and to PayPal and Temu via email for further information.
Update 3:45am CT August 8: In an email to the Daily Dot, a spokesperson for PayPal clarified that the information leak did not come from their end. They also said that they “worked with the customer to swiftly resolve the issue.”
A representative from Temu also responded to the request for comment and pointed out that the TikToker’s PayPal account was “not compromised through Temu, which does not have access to full payment details when users checkout through third-party payment processors like PayPal, Google Pay, or Apple Pay.”
A M B E R also appears to have removed her TikTok post as of now.