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06 Sept 2025

Irish shoppers warned as woman finds deadly live scorpion in online Shein order

The potentially deadly Chinese scorpion was found wriggling around inside a zipped Shein parcel in the UK

Irish shoppers warned as woman finds deadly live scorpion in online Shein order

Irish shoppers warned as woman finds deadly live scorpion in online Shein order

Irish shoppers are on alert after a young woman discovered a live and potentially deadly scorpion inside a parcel she'd received from clothing retailer Shein.

Chinese company Shein is very popular with Irish shoppers but they have been forced to respond and reassure shoppers after the incident late last week.

A student in Bristol was left shaken after excitedly opening her Shein order before spotting the creepy critter. She had unzipped the parcel of shoes before seeing it move and closing it up again. She called the National Centre for Reptile Welfare who quickly sent someone to pick it up.

Chris Newman from the centre said reports like this are more common that people might think and that this is the second incident like this with a live scorpion in a month in the UK.

He said a sting from the Chinese scorpion is "potentially life threatening but an average adult would just have a really bad day," according to the BBC.

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Shein has responded to reassure shoppers of its processes. They said: "After receiving the feedback, we immediately conducted an internal investigation. Our teams on the ground have checked the shipment packing process and carried out an inspection of the goods in our warehouse and have confirmed that all standard operating processes have been adhered to."

Nevertheless, Irish shoppers would be advised to check each parcel from the website carefully before opening.

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