2023-11-13 12:23:48
Caution. On social networks, many consumers reveal that their bank accounts have been looted following placing an order on the Temu site, a Chinese online sales platform that recently arrived on the Belgian market and whose practices raise questions.
Sarah Winkel 13-11-23, 1:23 p.m. Last update: 1:43 p.m. Source: Belga, Grizzly Research, JDG, TestAchats
Items for less than one euro, vacuum cleaners and other appliances for around fifteen euros, cheap gifts… With its (largely) low prices and crazy promotions, Temu attracts many consumers. Launched in Belgium last June, this Chinese platform already has more than 900 million users worldwide. But its economic model raises some questions.
On social networks, many users accuse the application of having stolen their banking information. Many of them have noticed that sums had been debited from their account following placing an order. “I fell for Temu. Literally the next day, my credit card was hacked”, testifies a consumer on my Apple ID from China,” adds another Internet user.
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French-speaking consumers are not the only ones concerned. In the United States, for example, where the application is also extremely popular, customers have also seen their bank accounts stolen. “My banking data was sold on the black market by Temu,” said a user on TikTok in a video viewed 12 million times. “In total, they took 400 dollars (around 375 euros), but in very small quantities over two months. They charged regarding 3 dollars a day (a little less than 3 euros).”
“If it’s free, you’re the product.”
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“The most dangerous application ever released on a large scale”
Sites like Temu, Shein, Aliexpress and Wish have brought up to date the favorite adage of web experts: “If it’s free, then you are the product”.
In a rapport published last September, the American company Grizzly Research claims that the platform contains “aggressive” programs specifically intended for collecting customer data. “Temu collects data on users, in particular messages, but also banking information,” underlines financial analyst Siegfried Eggert.
According to him, Temu would also have deliberately hidden spyware in its application in order to monitor the online activities of its users even when they are not on the platform, by collecting the passwords of their wifi networks, for example. “This software poses an urgent security threat to American national interests,” he warns once more before adding that Temu is “the most dangerous application” ever distributed on a large scale.
In France, it is also the subject of an investigation carried out by the Fraud Repression Agency.
Methods that raise questions
For months now, voices have been raised in any case to contest the methods of the company, linked to the e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, which has been accused of spying on its users.
Temu suffers “huge losses to collect a lot of data in order to advertise in a more targeted way”, underlined the Neutral Union for Independents (SNI) when the application was launched last June. “Consumers can get discount codes if they visit the app multiple times, or by playing games. To get gifts, you have to advertise to your friends or family.” If this practice proves to be loss-making in the short term for the online store, “the parent company can bear these losses, because its sister company Pinduoduo is very profitable”. However, selling at a loss is illegal in Belgium, the SNI reminded us once more.
© Shutterstock / T. Schneider
A quality that leaves something to be desired
Finally, an analysis recently conducted by TestAchats highlights that the quality of the products offered by Temu leaves something to be desired. After checking 28 products, ranging from children’s toys to cosmetics to helmets, the conclusion is clear: the items are of “rather poor quality” and above all do not comply with the regulations in force.
Out of fifteen gadgets, games and other stationery items purchased on Temu, “we noted for all one or more non-compliances with the regulations in force, that is to say products prohibited or which must not be sold on the European market,” notes the consumer defense company.
“In several cases, we noted the absence of the CE label or its counterfeiting; this is the case for several products intended for children, namely a teddy bear and certain stationery items.”
Same observation for cosmetic products, which do not display ingredient lists. “Which is illegal, because certain cosmetics may contain substances banned in Europe and might be potentially dangerous for certain people,” adds Testachats.
Many elements which ultimately explain the unbeatable prices displayed by the Chinese platform.
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