A Chinese influencer has been accused of falsely claiming she donated one million yuan to flood relief efforts in Guangxi, while records reportedly showed an actual donation of just one yuan.
The case emerged after severe flooding hit parts of Nanning, Guangxi, following the impact of Typhoon Maysak. Members of the public have donated money and supplies to support flood relief, with some sharing their donation receipts online to encourage others to help.
However, the Fujian Daily reported that some people had allegedly attempted to exploit the disaster for online attention by fabricating charitable acts.
A Xiaohongshu influencer known as “An Lan”, who had thousands of followers, reportedly posted a screenshot claiming she had donated one million yuan (about RM650,000) to the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Red Cross.
The screenshot, dated July 17, was prominently displayed on her profile. She also posted about “doing my small part” for post-disaster reconstruction, attracting more than 1,000 likes and reportedly causing her follower count to surge to 31,000.
However, reporters contacted the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Red Cross to verify the donation.
A staff member said the organisation had publicly disclosed its donation records and had not received any individual donation of one million yuan on July 17.
The staff member also searched for the name provided by the influencer and found a one-yuan donation made that day. However, the account number shown in the donation record did not match the account details displayed in the influencer’s screenshot.
The case was subsequently reported to Xiaohongshu. The platform said the post had been removed and the user had been prohibited from posting comments.
Xiaohongshu said it strictly manages the spread of fabricated information and urged users to report suspected false content through its official reporting channels, adding that such reports would be verified and handled promptly.
