Man caught swapping QR code at hawker stall says he’d ‘pay it back in a few days’
A wanton noodles stall owner in Muar, Malaysia, discovered that his QR code had been swapped by a thief who later claimed he was just “temporarily borrowing” the money.
The incident occurred late at night on 14 Nov and was recorded on a nearby security camera.
The perpetrator, a middle-aged man, was caught replacing the original QR code with his own to divert funds.
QR code swapped during late-night visit
The thief had visited the stall after closing hours on a motorcycle.
At around 11.20pm, he replaced a QR code that was stuck on what appears to be a refrigerator.
Source: Sin Chew Daily
His actions were undetected at the time due to the late hour and absence of other customers.
The 25-year-old stall owner, Tan Rui Heng (name transliterated), only realised the QR code had been swapped the next morning.
After reviewing the CCTV footage, Mr Tan was able to identify the thief using the motorcycle’s licence plate.
He then tracked down the man and confronted him.
In a surprising defence, the thief claimed he was merely “borrowing” the money and promised to return it in a few days.
Stolen funds returned, but not without issues
The perpetrator eventually returned the 83 ringgit (S$25.94) he had stolen, but the process took several hours.
Source: Sin Chew Daily
Mr Tan later decided to share the incident on social media to warn other businesses.
This led to a phone call from the man, who demanded the video be taken down.
Despite his initial intention to let the matter go, Mr Tan chose to report the incident to the police.
A warning to other businesses
Mr Tan, who has been operating the stall for only six months, now takes extra precautions with his QR codes.
“If my girlfriend hadn’t noticed the abnormality in the QR code that day, we might have just mistakenly thought business was bad,” he remarked.
He also advised other small business owners to remain vigilant.
Also read: Man in China swaps QR code on temple’s merit box, steals over S$5,000 from donors
Man in China swaps QR code on temple’s merit box, steals over S$5,000 from donors
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Featured image adapted from Sin Chew Daily.
