Taxi passenger suffers heart attack after being given ‘hell bank note’ in change
Late at night, fake 50-yuan bill looked like the real thing
A woman in northeastern China suffered a heart attack after a taxi driver slipped a worthless “ghost bank note” in her change, mainland media reports.
The woman, surnamed Sun, from Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, told local newspaper Life News that she paid the driver a 100-yuan bill (HK$126) late at night earlier this month. The driver, whom she described as “at about 30, with cropped hair, very thin face and weak voice”, gave her 85 yuan in change, including a 50-yuan bill.
It was dark and freezing so Sun quickly put the money in her purse. Later at home, she discovered the 50-yuan bill, which was green like the real things, was ghost money used as offerings to the dead.
Made of low-quality paper, ghost bills sometimes resemble Renminbi.
Sun, upset about by the deception, suffered a heart attack later that night and was admitted to hospital.
Heilongjiang TV reported two similar cases in the city.