Have you been contacted by a Temu Official about a collaboration? Read on to see if it’s legit. Temu is questionable already, but now the scammers have started using them as a front for their collab scam that always involves an upfront shipping fee.

The Temu Collab Scam

The Temu collab scam is the same as the one with SHEIN, and many makeup companies as well. It starts with an exciting e-mail about how they want to send you free items and pay you to post for them. Then they send you a very legitimate looking contract.

It starts with this e-mail:

Hello,

We @temuofficial are just launching our newest spring clothing line @temu and we noticed you have been a fan of our work.

So we are just launching our influencer campaign and really want you involved, you would get free monthly packages (10 items of your choice per month), your own exclusive discount code to share, shoutouts and reposts to our Instagram and website!

Before we send you more details, we will like to know how much you charge per post, what social media platforms you are on?

Best regards.

Read the Fine Print

Sounds great right? I wrote back and told them my rate was $500 per post. They wrote back right away and told me that sounded good, and they would pay me $5000 a month for posting. Then they sent the contract.

The contract was four pages long and very official looking. I searched for the telltale sign of the scam- where they ask for an upfront shipping fee, and found it:

When I asked about the shipping fee, I got this response:

Dear Candy the company used the shipping fee of 100$ to create your own profile generate your shipping code and tracking number for your package and send it to you to avoid the losses of your package.

Remember your money we be refunded immediately after the process is completed and documented. Kindly proceed and sign the contract agreement and send it back to us for verification.

We are waiting for your reply as soon as possible in order to proceed with the selection process of the items.

Kindly understand with us to avoid inconvenient. 

Best Regards

I told them I only had $30 to my name and couldn’t afford the fee. They got back right away and said they’d make an exception and to send them to send them the $30. How nice! Glad they are willing to discount the fee and take my last $30.

I was busy at the time and didn’t respond right away, so they e-mailed me FOUR more times asking me to send the $30! They really want that money.

Of course, I’m not going to send them any money, and they aren’t really with Temu. So, watch out for this scam and the other just like it. The company name and terms change, but there’s always that upfront shipping fee and the e-mail will usually come from a Gmail address.

About the Author

Candy Keane is a digital content creator and long-time cosplayer, most well-known for being on the cover of the Star Wars documentary Jedi Junkies. After making costumes professionally for over a decade, she now writes about geek culture and mom life, and continues to cosplay for fun, while sharing her love of costumes on Instagram @SewGeekMama. Her first children’s book, I’m Going to My First Comic Convention, was published in 2020 and won a Story Monsters Approved award for Excellence in Literature.

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