Police are on the hunt for a man who has been described in local media as a “stupid robber” after he claimed he had a bomb strapped around his waist and demanded the cashier at a 7-Eleven add HK$15,000 (US$1,900) to his WeChat Pay account.
The stupid, you see, relates to a few things.
First, the suspect, who was wearing a surgical mask, did not have a bomb.
The “bomb” he showed the female cashier at the convenience store on Shun Ning Road in Cheung Sha Wan during the attempted robbery at 9am yesterday was a tangle of wires attached to a black object, according to Apple Daily.
But, secondly, the man also seemed to be ignorant of the transfer limits for WeChat Pay accounts.
The payment service, connected to the popular social media app run by mainland technology conglomerate Tencent, allows maximum single top ups of HK$5,000 (US$638) per transaction.
The daily limit, meanwhile, is HK$10,000 (US$1,280).
This was something pointed out by president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation Francis Fong, who called the suspect “stupid”.
Fong also noted the man’s account would be traceable, given WeChat uses a system that requires users to register their with their ID cards and bank card details.
And — if the suspect had used a SIM card not registered in his name, something you would think a robber may try to do — the maximum daily top up drops to HK$500 (US$64).
Either way, he wasn’t leaving the store with HK$15,000.
In the end, he left the store with nothing. After telling him that the transaction was impossible, the cashier pressed the emergency button to alert the police, prompting the suspect to flee.
Police cordoned off the area around the convenience store, where they also found a surgical mask that may have belonged to the suspect.
No on was injured during the incident, which has been classified by the Sham Shui Po Investigation Team as an attempted robbery.
Officers say they are looking for a man aged between 30 to 40-years-old, with a medium build, short brown hair, and wearing a gray long-sleeved shirt and black shorts.
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