Honest Chinese Woman Shocked by $310,000 in Cash Transfers Returns Lot to Rightful Owner

A woman in China who received multiple money transfers totaling 2.26 million yuan (US$310,000) from a stranger and returned all the funds without hesitation has been praised for her honesty.

The woman, surnamed Wang, said she received a number of phone calls in late June from someone she did not know, Henan TV reported.

“This person called me several times, so I finally picked up the phone,” said Wang, who lives in Xuchang, central China’s Henan province.

“A woman was crying on the phone, telling me that she had made a mistake in transferring me 2.26 million yuan.”

The unknown woman, named Tian, ​​said she sent the money via Alipay, a mobile payment platform.

Wang, who had never used Alipay, suspected it was a scam, but still comforted and calmed Tian, ​​promising that she would not withhold her money if what she claimed was true.

Wang went to the police station with her daughter to report the case.

“We were shocked. How could such a mistake result in such a large amount of money?” his daughter said.

Police said they had dealt with similar cases in the past and also doubted that this was an attempt at fraud.

Wang and Tian, ​​who live nearby in Hebei province, were asked to go to the police station for questioning.

Police logged into the Alipay app with Wang’s mobile phone number and found that the account had received a series of money transfers with a combined value of 2.26 million yuan, exactly as Tian had claimed.

They also verified the source of the funds before confirming that it was a normal income amount for Tian.

Wang immediately returned all the money to Tian: “This is what I’m supposed to do,” she said.

News of the incident went viral on mainland social media after being viewed 140 million times on Weibo alone.

“What a good person Aunt Wang is,” one online observer said.

“Aunt Wang is very caring. She knew the owner of the money must be worried, so she returned it quickly. I wish her a healthy and safe life,” another said.

Cases involving honesty and integrity often captivate social media in China.

Last year, a 13-year-old boy found a bag containing 160,000 yuan ($22,000) in cash on the street and reported it to police, who later identified the real owner.

The boy returned the money despite his family’s dire financial situation and the fact that his father was ill in hospital.