Shanghai man detained for theft from lost bank card

A Shanghai man, identified only by surname Xu, has been criminally detained on suspicion of stealing 70,000 yuan ($9,723) from a lost bank card, according to local media reports on Monday.

The incident began on Feb 27 when a resident of Shanghai's Putuo district, surnamed Zhang, reported that his bank card was lost several days ago. He told police he hadn't reported the missing card due to a busy schedule.

However, later that afternoon, Zhang received a text message from his bank notifying him of unauthorized transactions totaling 70,000 yuan withdrawn from an ATM.

Police traced the transactions to the ATM and, upon reviewing surveillance footage, identified a male suspect making several attempts to withdraw money in the early hours of Feb 27. The suspect, later identified as Xu, was apprehended shortly afterwards.

Xu confessed to finding the lost card near his home and attempting to guess the pin number after finding the card. He claimed to have successfully guessed the pin on his second try and used the card to withdraw 20,000 yuan in cash and transfer an additional 50,000 yuan to his own account.

According to Xu's confession, he was unemployed and had been searching online for simple PIN combinations before attempting to use the stolen card. At the time of his arrest, Xu had already spent 22,000 yuan of the stolen money. However, police were able to recover the remaining funds.

Xu is currently in criminal detention, and the case remains under investigation.