4 Penalized for Fabricating Viral Extortion Video

Shanghai police have detained two people and punished two others for fabricating a viral video that falsely showed an elderly man demanding 50,000 yuan (US$7,000) after finding a luxury handbag – a hoax that fueled public anger.

The clip, filmed near Nanjing Road W., was presented as a "social experiment" to test public honesty. In the video, a woman left a bag she claimed was worth 280,000 yuan and offered a 1,000-yuan reward for its return.

When an elderly man picked it up, he was seen first claiming it belonged to him before allegedly asking for 50,000 yuan to hand it back. He later "accepted" 1,000 yuan after negotiation.

The video quickly went viral, drawing widespread criticism of the Shanghai man's supposed greed.

But a police investigation later revealed the entire scene had been scripted to attract online traffic.

An investigation by Jing'an District police revealed that the video was orchestrated by Liu, a social media account operator who runs a luxury resale business. To boost his store's visibility, Liu collaborated with an employee surnamed Li to create a series of "honesty test" videos.

They prepared a script, hired a performer surnamed Fang through an agency for 400 yuan to play the elderly man, and filmed the scene on July 7. A livestreamer, Sheng, also participated in the filming.

Liu and Li have been detained for fabricating information and disturbing public order, while Sheng and Fang face administrative penalties.