Brazen man in China demands US$280 to return lost mobile phone, threatens to delete contents if owner doesn’t pay up

However, when she contacted the man, she was shocked when he demanded 2,000 yuan for the phone’s return.

The man, surnamed Geng, threatened to reset her phone and remove all the data if she refused to pay.

Zhang said, as a student, she did not have much money and the man reduced his demand to 1,500 yuan, 500 of which he said should be paid by the restaurant as a finder’s fee.

Zhang told the mainland media outlet Jimu News the phone was important to her as it contained valuable data including photos of her deceased family members.

She agreed to Geng’s request, and gave him a 500-yuan deposit, which she scraped together from her 1,000-yuan monthly living expenses.

Zhang promised to pay him the remaining 500 yuan after she received the phone by post.

But Geng insisted she pay the full amount as he had scheduled a courier service, and later returned her deposit and blacklisted her on WeChat.

A member of staff from the restaurant told Jimu News that Geng had called them demanding a reward, but they turned him down.

Zhang said the police told her they could not force Geng to return the phone and suggested she sue him.

The authorities said the man would be breaking the law by keeping the personal belongings of another person and might even be guilty of embezzlement if the property was valuable.

Geng’s behaviour shocked mainland social media as in Chinese culture the returning of lost property is deemed a traditional virtue.

“This is blackmail. The woman should sue him and put him in jail,” said one person on Douyin.

“What a greedy and shameless person. He was stealing the phone not picking it up,” said another.