10 Facts About the Yang Bao Bei (YBB) Saga, The Popular MY Influencer Who Allegedly Scammed Others

Every six seconds, a Singaporean buys a cup of bubble tea, an air travel bubble is cancelled, and a YouTuber uploads an apology video.

For the latter, it rarely puts to bed the issue at hand.

On 30 Apr, Malaysian influencer Yang Bao Bei (YBB) apologised to her followers for “doing many bad things” in the last six months.

By this, Yang meant lying and scamming, with the victims sometimes being her friends or even boyfriend.

So, who exactly is Yang Bao Bei and what did she do?

Here are 10 facts about the Yang Bao Bei saga:

Yang Bao Bei (YBB) is a Malaysian YouTuber, Influencer, and Owner of a Bubble Tea Business

For the unacquainted, Yang is a Malaysian influencer and YouTuber who rose to fame in 2016 with her travel and relationship videos.

She has since amassed over 500,000 followers.

The 27-year-old also opened new cafe in Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, which sells bubble tea.

She Attempted Suicide on 17 April

On 17 Apr this year, a video of firefighters rescuing a woman from the 5th storey ledge of a building made the rounds on social media.

Some believe that it was Yang in the video.

Yang had reportedly attempted to jump off a building from the 5th floor of an apartment in Puchong between 11am and 12:30pm that day.

Fortunately, eight firemen from the Serdang Fire and Rescue Station arrived on the scene and rescued the distressed woman.

So, what drove her to suicide?

Netizens Had Accused Yang Bao Bei of Scamming Them

Not long after her suicide attempt, some netizens revealed that Yang had scammed them into buying branded bags that were never delivered to them.

At least three people have fallen victim to the scam, China Press reported.

According to the victims, Yang was selling bags from various brands at the time. They selected their desired bag and paid for it, but the bags never came.

When they asked Yang about it, they said she would give excuses or avoid replying them altogether.

Another victim claimed she had given RM30,000 (~S$9,731) to Yang after the YouTuber said she needed it for an emergency. The victim said she met Yang often and didn’t think she would swindle her.

One of the victims has since lodged a police report.

She Said Her Suicide Was to “Atone for Her Sins”

Shortly before her suicide attempt, Yang reportedly left a message for her followers on Telegram which said “only death can atone for sins”.

Her last Instagram post was a celebration of her single status, where she asserted that one does not need love to be happy.

Earlier, the influencer had complained online that her ex-boyfriend had cheated on her while they were dating.

She Admitted to Scamming Others, Said She Had a Gambling Addiction

Nearly two weeks after her suicide attempt, Yang came clean about her misdeeds, admitting to lying and scamming people in the last few months in a video on her YouTube channel.

In the video, she starts off by apologising to her family members, friends, and the public.

She then admits to doing “many bad things” in the past six months, all because she had a gambling addiction.

It all started when she made large gains with a small investment. The rush drove her to gamble more of her money, but that led to her losing her savings.

Then, she grew desperate.

She started borrowing money from loan sharks so she could gamble even more, but she never made enough to pay them back.

The loan sharks threatened her family, and even went to her house and ordered her to work for them.

So she concocted a plan to sell branded bags on YouTube without actually delivering the bags, and used the deposits to pay off the loan sharks.

However, with such a large debt, Yang feared she would never be able to pay it off, and turned to suicide as a means of escape.

She apologised to netizens for her actions towards the end of her video.

Six of Her Friends Have Spoken Out Against Her

A day later after the apology video was released, six of Yang’s friends spoke out against her, and made some rather shocking allegations.

The group included:

• YouTubers Charles Tee, Lim Shang Jin, and Tan Yii Yii
• Yang’s YouTube business partners Chord and Kay
• Yang’s bubble tea business partner Sky

They all appeared in a video posted on Lim’s channel.

The group claimed that all six of them had lent money to Yan, with some amounts going up to hundreds of thousands.

Yang lied to the group when she asked for the money, claiming she needed to borrow it for a business matter.

She also allegedly used her father’s death in order to gain sympathy to deceive them into handing over more money.

She Stole a Phone and IC from a Friend

But that’s not all, as Yii Yii, one of the YouTubers in the video, levelled another accusation at Yang.

According to Yii Yii, they were both at a private event one day when Yang stole her phone and IC.

She apparently did it in order to borrow more money from loan sharks.

She Used Her Ex’s YouTube Earnings to Gamble

Her ex, Ao Xiang, then broke his silence on the matter claiming that he too was a victim of Yang’s.

Soon after the pair started dating, Ao made a YouTube channel of his own. Since he was dating Yang who already has a huge following, his channel grew quickly and so did his earnings.

However, the money went to Yang’s bank account and she used it for gambling without Ao’s consent.

According to Ao, Yang once told her: “Only gambling can pay off loan shark debts.”

Despite this, Ao even borrowed RM40,000 (~S$12,967) to help pay off her debt.

She Wasn’t Acting Along in Her Scams

Yang’s YouTube business partner, Chord, revealed that two other influencers were accomplices in her scams – Agnes Ma, Yang’s alleged best friend and Ma’s boyfriend, Chris Hoo.

Chord said the couple deleted all evidence of their involvement in the scams on their phones after Yang’s suicide attempt and allowed Yang to take the fall for them.

Chord added that they still have evidence of the trio’s crimes and that it’s been handed over to the police.

Her Agency Has Cut Ties With Yang Bao Bei

In response to the rumours surrounding Yang, the influencer’s agency said they were not involved in her scams.

Then, after Yang admitted to the allegations, her agency announced on Instagram that they were cutting ties with the 27-year-old.

Not only will they stop doing business with Yang, they have also accused her of committing embezzlement and fraud against the company by defaulting on loans.

Some netizens praised her for owning up to her misdeeds, while others believe she’s only apologising because her crimes came to light.

Whatever the reason, Yang’s mental health must have taken a beating for her to have attempted suicide. Let’s hope that she gets the help she needs, and that the victims of her scams get their money back.

In the meantime, if you’re wondering how much influencers or YouTubers earn, watch this video to the end:

Featured Image: YouTube (YBB楊虹玲)