A Chinese influencer has been arrested after fabricating a touching narrative to gain sympathy and profit online. The man, who operated under the handle @qianyibaobei on the popular social media platform Douyin (the Chinese equivalent of TikTok), posed as a single father struggling to support his infant daughter through food delivery work. His deceptive content attracted over 400,000 followers and garnered significant attention on social media.
The influencer, who posted more than 100 videos portraying himself as a devoted father working tirelessly to care for his toddler, claimed to have been abandoned by the child’s mother. In one viral video, he detailed how he delivered 43 orders in a single day, earning 300 yuan (£34) to provide better food for his daughter. He even shared a heart-wrenching moment when he allegedly injured his daughter’s face while on the job, encouraging followers to like his videos as a show of support.
The man’s emotional tales helped him accumulate both sympathy and financial gains through live-streaming sales. However, after investigations, police revealed that his entire story was fabricated. The man is neither a single father nor a delivery worker, and in fact, his daughter’s mother lives with them, and the family leads a stable life.
Authorities have penalized the influencer with up to 10 days of detention and a 500-yuan (£57) fine for disturbing public order. This arrest highlights a disturbing trend of deception among influencers in China, with other cases involving fabricated stories of hardship for personal gain.
Earlier this year, another influencer, @Liangshanmengyang, was sentenced to 11 months in jail for faking a life of poverty after claiming to care for her siblings following her parents’ death. Investigations found that her parents were alive, and the house shown in her videos was actually a shelter for livestock.
Further investigations into this latest case revealed a multichannel network company behind several fraudulent accounts. The company’s owner manipulated content to sell fake agricultural products and was sentenced to 14 months in prison and fined 100,000 yuan (£11,500).
The growing trend of influencers fabricating emotional stories for profit has raised concerns in China, with authorities cracking down on such deceptive practices to protect public trust and order.
Sources By Agencies
