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The Wild West of Social Media: A Cautionary Tale of RedNote and Scams
When Congress passed the TikTok ban, I figured I’d check out Xiaohongshu, aka RedNote, China’s answer to the social media app that’s suddenly flooded with American "TikTok refugees."
The first few hours scrolling through the app felt like stumbling into a cozy corner of the Internet.
The interface was mostly in Mandarin, but the content spoke a universal language: cute pets, travel photos (Chinese cities look fantastic), people welcoming TikTokers, and enough Chinese food videos to make anyone hungry at 3 a.m.
Then, I posted my first photo, and that’s when things got weird.
Within minutes, my inbox exploded with messages from supposedly American users. The first red flag? Usually, dozens of cute girls don’t bombard me with solicitations to connect.
Another strange thing I noticed was that every account had a Nigerian IP address, clear as day in their account details – though you’d miss it if you were only looking at the English words in their bios.
Each account also features details in Mandarin, and if you take the time to examine it, you realize that every RedNote account automatically lists the country of origin, with a country code, for the registrant.
Take, for example, Bbyelizabeth0 (ID: 26204885628), who slid into my DMs claiming to be a 28-year-old American woman looking for friends.
Her profile showed a stunning woman executing your typical influencer poses, including my personal favorite: The boudoir mirror selfie.
But there’s a catch.
I was sad to learn, via a reverse image search, that the account had stolen the profile photo and videos from @curlygirlxoxo, an Instagram model with 140,000 followers who mixes fitness content with OnlyFans promotions.
Is nothing sacred? Worse, the video “she” posted on RedNote was pilfered from TikTok.
Scams Abound
People are starting to notice these oddities. "Be aware of scams. This app is the wild wild west now," warned a RedNote veteran posting under ID: Daya Redneck, mixing English and Mandarin in his warnings. "Don’t send your personal data, all jokes aside."
MissKatherine, an American RedNote newcomer, shared her own brush with the scammers.
"I had someone saying they’re American with fake pics, but the IP was from Nigeria," she said. When I checked her followers, I found more accounts using the same script, all hiding Nigerian IP addresses behind stolen American identities.
Conclusion
The flood of new users to RedNote shows no signs of slowing. The app hit the top spot in Apple’s App Store and cracked the top 10 on Google Play within days of the TikTok ban news.
(I doubt TikTok will be banned since incoming U.S. President Trump seems more favorably disposed to the app and invited TikTok’s CEO to the Inauguration.)
FAQs
Q: Is RedNote a legitimate social media app?
A: While RedNote is a popular app, its environment feels pretty scammy and infested with weird bots.
Q: Should I use RedNote?
A: If you want to hang out there, use the simple translation tool and some common sense.
Q: Is there a connection between RedNote and Nigeria?
A: Although Nigeria is not part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative development initiative, it receives enormous money from China. It is one of the country’s key economic partners.
Q: Are there any legitimate users on RedNote?
A: Yes, there are, but be cautious and use common sense when interacting with others on the platform.
