Class Action Lawsuit Claims Temu Uses Spam Emails to Secretly Collect Consumer Data

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

Temu has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit over its alleged practice of bombarding California consumers with illegal spam emails whose purpose is to dupe unwary recipients into opening messages they would otherwise ignore, in violation of state law.

Get class action lawsuit and class action settlement news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter.

The 14-page Temu lawsuit claims that the online marketplace has “relentlessly” sent consumers spam emails replete with false subject lines, deceptive headers and spoofed domains to induce them to click on the supposedly anonymous messages. The filing says that consumers who engage with the spam emails are then funneled to Temu’s website, which is loaded with hidden cookies and tracking pixels to capture and collect “deeply personal” information.

The complaint says that the tracking technologies employed by Temu on its website allow the company and its partners to follow a consumer’s behavior across the internet, “converting a single deceptive email into ongoing digital surveillance.”

Per the case, the plaintiff received a spam email from a “nonsensical” email address with a misleading subject line stating “$0.01 False Nails – Ends Soon.” While attempting to determine the origin and legitimacy of the email, the suit says, the plaintiff was induced to click a link that led to Temu’s website, which then secretly and illegally installed numerous tracking pixels that allowed data brokers such as Amplitude, Fastly, and Facebook Domain Insights to capture and sell his personal information, in violation of California’s Trap and Trace Law.

The filing says that Temu’s emails constitute unwanted spam, as the plaintiff had no pre-existing business relationship with Temu or consent to receive such messages, and the emails were sent to advertise or promote the lease or sale of property, goods, services or extension of credit.

Notably, the case says that the email’s subject line was deceptive, as the claim that any product is available for “$0.01” on Temu’s website is “literally false,” a fact that the plaintiff  apparently discovered after “scouring” the website, and is instead designed to trick consumers into clicking on the email.

According to the class action lawsuit, Temu’s spam emails contain metadata and embedded code that reflect “multiple indicia” of spam evasion and deceptive marking. The lawsuit says that the email sent to the plaintiff was clearly “spoofed,” as it failed multiple authentication checks. Moreover, the filing notes that the email itself made use of “obfuscation techniques” that concealed the address of any embedded hyperlinks and monitored consumer’s behavior through surreptitious tracking technologies.

“The unauthorized domain name, misleading header and false subject line also invaded [p]laintiff’s privacy and disrupted the ordinary use and enjoyment of [p]laintiff’s email account, diminishing its value as a communication tool and necessitating additional filtering and security precautions,” the complaint says.

The Temu class action lawsuit seeks to cover all California citizens who received any commercial email promoting any of Temu’s products or services at a California e-mail address where such email(s) contained (1) a falsified, misrepresented, or forged domain name; (2) falsified, misrepresented, or forged header information, or (3) false or misleading subject line or contents; or visited a website owned or operated by Temu using a web browser or mobile device and whose interactions, communications, or personally identifiable information were intercepted, collected or transmitted to any data brokers through the use of tracking pixels, cookies, or similar technologies without their knowledge or consent.

Check out ClassAction.org’s lawsuit list for the latest open class action lawsuits and investigations.