Warning over scamming RedNote ‘fake foreigners’ who share improper content
Imposters using bogus IP locations dupe kind-hearted users of Chinese social media platform, often using stolen identification details
So-called fake foreigners have emerged on mainland social media platforms, posing as TikTok refugees to deceive young women and share inappropriate content, sparking widespread concern.
As hundreds of thousands of foreign users join RedNote, the platform has experienced a surge in cross-cultural interactions.
In the two days leading up to January 14, RedNote gained over 700,000 new users. RedNote is also known as Xiaohongshu, which means “Little Red Book” in Chinese.
Posts by foreign people often attract thousands of warm, welcoming comments from Chinese netizens.
However, some malicious Chinese users have taken advantage of the trend by using artificial intelligence (AI) generated or stolen photos of Western faces to impersonate foreigners.
A female user reported receiving multiple harassing messages from such imposters.
