The Downfall of a Man Who Scammed His Friend with a Large 'Ink' Purchase

Full Repayment with Apology After Being Sued
"Hope You Have No Lifelong Friends" Sparks Netizen Anger

A Chinese man’s “absurd betrayal” after borrowing tens of millions of won from a friend and even writing a promissory note promising to repay has sparked outrage among local netizens. This is because the debt document left by the man was written with “special ink” that disappears after one hour.

Hong Kong media outlet South China Morning Post (SCMP) introduced the story of a man named Lei on a Chinese social networking service (SNS) video channel on the 20th (local time).

In March 2018, Lei was asked by his friend Lin to lend 120,000 yuan (about $17,500 / 22.71 million won). Unable to ignore the plight of his longtime friend, Lei lent the money to Lin and received a promissory note promising repayment in return. This debt document was handwritten by Lin himself with a pen.

Chinese 100 Yuan banknote. The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. Photo by Yonhap News

However, Lei was soon shocked. One hour later, the words written on the debt document suddenly disappeared. It turned out that Lin had written the note with a pen containing special ink that naturally disappears when exposed to the outside for a certain period of time. In the end, Lei had no choice but to sue his close friend Lin.

Subsequently, a Chinese court ordered Lin, who was sued, to repay the borrowed 120,000 yuan. However, until early last year, Lin did not repay a single cent of the promised money and resisted, and it was only after the authorities used enforcement measures that he apologized and transferred the amount to Lei in December of the same year.

The case was thus settled for the time being, but as the story spread, public outrage grew among Chinese netizens. The original video containing this story recorded over 11 million views on Weibo (the Chinese version of SNS), and “ink scam” became a popular search term on various portal sites. It is reported that more than 3,400 comments criticizing Lin have been posted so far.

One Chinese netizen said, “This man has no basic sense of ethics,” adding, “I hope he has not a single friend for the rest of his life.” Another netizen pointed out, “Having a friend who can readily lend 120,000 yuan is more precious than money, but (he) betrayed that relationship.”