| Why beg for money in cold weather or rain when you can hit people up for spare change in Cyberspace? At least one beggar in China has set up his own Website recently, arousing controversy.
The Website is titled "Give me one yuan (12 US cents) to make me rich."
The site's owner says he is very poor and has posted a bank account number people can deposit money in. He asks them to deposit 0.5 yuan, 1 yuan, or 10 yuan.
According to a counter on the homepage, 40,073 people had visited the Website as of 3pm yesterday.
The site has received 94.68 yuan in donations from 45 people across the country.
Some visitors to the site prefer to leave critical comments on its chat board instead to cash.
"I don't think there is any reason to donate money to them," one unnamed surfer wrote in the chat room. "At least they have a computer and can surf online."
The owner of the Website has not made his identity known yet, but the IP address shows the site is operating out of Beijing.
The owner did leave a note on the site's chat board, however, saying he would give a full refund to anyone who thinks they have been ripped off.
Begging is also a job, the owner wrote. He has also posted a list of donors on the site, and says he will update the list and the amount of money received everyday.
In addition to the critical comments, some visitors wrote letters of support in the chatroom.
One visitor going by the name Chris said the site is a good idea and he wants to add a link to the Website to his personal page.
Liu Chunquan, a lawyer in the city, said since the online beggars aren't telling anyone a false story to get money, the site isn't fraudulent. |
