Yang Bao Bei (杨宝贝) was accused of fraud earlier this year shortly after she tried to commit suicide. The resulting mess left her bereft of money, friends and trust. She swore after the fiasco that she would change her ways and slowly regain her followers’ trust. However, it seems things may not have changed as much as we hoped.
Yesterday (23d September), several netizens accused YBB of her old ways again. According to them, YBB had cheated them of iPhones. The accusations quickly went viral and has caused YBB to delete her old Instagram account.
The victims took to Facebook to call out the YouTuber and warn people that YBB was falling back to her old ways. One victim, Arh Zhen, explained she had believed in YBB’s change and didn’t mind supporting her. Hence, she bought an iPhone from her earlier this month.
Arh Zhen wasn’t the only one. At least two others had bought iPhones from YBB. For Arh Zhen, the problem was that YBB hadn’t given her the phone. When she asked for a refund, YBB had neglected to reply her. For the one victim who did receive a phone, he was outraged to discover he’d been given the wrong version instead.
In addition to being ignored and cheated, the victims were threatened by YBB to take down their posts. Screenshots showed her claiming the company would not be responsible and that if they did not remove the posts, she would disclose their information and contact the police. “My company is dealing with it,” she told them. “Don’t mess with me.” One victim has since deleted the post.
However, many others are taking a stand against her. As a result, YBB’s Instagram account has been reported until it was banned. She was forced to open a new account, which she announced this morning (24th September). “Ten years of hard work are gone,” she stated. “Goodbye to my IG.”
Yang Bao Bei insists of her innocence. “Too many people don’t know the truth,” she said. “They just report me indiscriminately.” The influencer claims her company is currently investigating the matter and hopes to clear everything up soon. She promises to give a full account as soon as she can.
Although she’s wise to take responsibility for the allegations, it doesn’t explain the threats or the ghosting. If Yang Bao Bei doesn’t clean up her act soon, the damage to her fans’ trusts may be irreparable.
