Man in M'sia swaps noodle stall QR code with his own, says he took money as a loan

A man in Malaysia replaced the payment QR code of a wanton noodle stall he visited with his personal QR code.

Sin Chew Daily reported that the noodle stall owner, Chen Ruiheng, lost RM83 (S$25.95) as a result.

The culprit, a customer of the stall, eventually repaid the money.

Unusual code

The stall owner, Chen, 25, had been running the Johor stall with his girlfriend the last six months and accepted cash payment and payment transfers.

The legitimate QR codes were pasted at two places at the stall.

The hawker generally did not proactively check whether his customers had scanned and paid because he trusted them and it was an honour system.

On Nov. 15, Chen opened the stall with his girlfriend as usual at around 5am.

When they closed for the day at 10am, his girlfriend noticed something unusual about the QR code on the refrigerator.

QR code replaced

She realised that the original code had been replaced.

Chen immediately contacted the landlord to review surveillance footage.

He realised that the swap was made around 11:10pm on Nov. 14.

Sin Chew Daily reported that a middle-aged Chinese man, who visited the stall a few times, was responsible for the swap.

According to the footage, the culprit had arrived at the stall on his motorcycle while it was dark and empty.

He then pasted his own QR code over the existing one.

Confrontation

However, Chen found it difficult to identify the culprit's appearance as the footage was not clear.

But he managed to identify the culprit's motorcycle licence plate.

When confronted, the man admitted that he was the culprit.

But he told Chen that the money he received was just a temporary loan and that he would pay it back.

The man eventually returned Chen the RM83 (S$25.95) he received via his personal QR code.

However, Chen posted the video online to warn other businesses, but covered the motorcycle's licence plate.

Chen was also going to drop the matter, but after receiving a call from the culprit to take down the video, he changed his mind.

Police report

Chen decided to make a police report.

He said that if his girlfriend had not noticed something unusual about the QR code that day, they might have been mistaken that business was bad.

More vigilant

Chen added that he was baffled that the man replaced the stall's QR code with his own.

This is because e-wallet QR codes require real-name authentication.

Following the incident, Chen plans to remove and keep the QR code whenever he closes shop.

It will be put up again the next day when opening shop.

Chen also reminded businesses to be more vigilant to avoid expending extra effort later to recover lost funds.

Top photos via Sin Chew Daily