Robbery victim saves iPhone by handing over fake banknote worth HK$36 - which he claimed was Euros
A man from eastern China outwitted three armed robbers by persuading them to take a foreign banknote worth less than 30 yuan (HK$36) rather than steal his iPhone, a newspaper reported.
The man, 22, from Wenzhou in Zhejiang province fooled the thieves into thinking that a 5,000 won note in his pocket was a euro note and that they should take that instead of the mobile, the Qianjiang Evening News said.
The robbers, wearing white masks and carrying steel bars, confronted the man when he was sitting in his car by the roadside one night earlier this month playing with his phone, the report said.
One of the robbers got in the car and the other two stood outside.
The motorist, whose full name was not given, was struck on the waist with a bar.
He opened his wallet and took out 180 yuan and the 5,000 won note.
He begged the men not to take away his iPhone as there was important information inside it and fooled them into thinking he had a 5,000 euro note, the report said. They asked what him what the note was he told them it was in euros.
READ MORE: Subway snatch thief caught after he drops own phone while making off with iPhone
The motorist then tried to drive off and the robbers ran away.
The robbers, aged 17, 19 and 27, were captured three days later by the police.
They confessed they had decided to rob someone because they had no money, the article said.
They bought the masks in a supermarket and found the three steel bars on the roadside.
