Temu ramps up efforts to combat cybercrime as Chinese e-commerce firm joins Anti-Phishing Working Group

Chinese e-commerce platform Temu has joined the Anti Phishing Working Group (APWG), a global coalition of 2,300 companies focused on protecting consumers from identity theft and online fraud.

Temu made its US debut just over a year ago and has scaled rapidly among consumers in over 50 markets worldwide.

Offering a wide range of affordable merchandise, it has attracted the attention of scammers and imposters that sought to steal personal information by tricking consumers with fake sites and phishing emails.

The company says it has taken legal action against such sites and apps.

The APWG focuses on eliminating identity theft and fraud that can result from phishing, crimeware, and e-mail spoofing.

In climbing aboard, Temu lines up alongside the likes of Rakuten, AT&T, Canva, Cisco, and Salesforce.

Some of its other initiatives include:

It claims that its data practices are not only similar to those of other major US marketplaces, it actually collects data from fewer categories than its peers.

Temu collects the minimum information necessary to enable its customers’ experiences and publicly discloses which information its app gathers on the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

In November, Temu engaged San Francisco based HackerOne to launch a Bug Bounty programme that incentivises ethical hackers to discover and report any security vulnerabilities the company didn’t previously know about.

It has introduced two-factor authentication (2FA) to prevent unauthorised access to a user’s account, even if they have compromised the password.

All payment transactions on Temu are encrypted and secured according to the Payment Card Industry (Data Security Standard).

“We are dedicated to providing the highest level of privacy and security possible for our users,” said a Temu spokesperson.

“Joining the Anti-Phishing Working Group is one of several steps we’re taking to strengthen the security of our mobile app and website so that customers can shop with peace of mind.”

In February, Temu received the Mobile Application Security Assessment (MASA) certification from Berlin founded DEKRA, a testing and inspection institute and one of six labs authorised by Google to conduct the MASA test, which involves testing an app for vulnerabilities, assessing data protection mechanisms, and ensuring compliance with best practices in mobile application security.