“Tea,” the red-hot dating app where women leave anonymous reviews about men they’ve dated, has been hacked — and thousands of user selfies have leaked online.
The app had just blown up in the U.S., becoming the most downloaded app on Apple’s App Store last week. Why? It flipped the dating game on its head by letting women share honest feedback about guys — like a Yelp for dating. Users could post reviews, warn others about red flags, and even run background checks straight from the app.
It was designed by software engineer Sean Cook, who was inspired after watching his mom go through nightmare dating situations — including being catfished by men with sketchy pasts.
But just as Tea was riding high on viral buzz, hackers struck Friday — exposing nearly 60,000 images, including selfies used for the app’s identity verification. Also compromised were some comments and direct messages, though Tea says emails and phone numbers were not accessed. The breach reportedly only affected users who joined before February 2024.
Tea’s team says all data has now been secured, but the incident has sparked big concerns about online safety, especially on platforms marketed as secure spaces for women.
Lesson here? The apps made to spill the tea might just burn you.
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