Claw machine shop owner spots regular customer on CCTV allegedly using magnet to cheat, reports to police

The owner of a claw machine shop at Sunshine Plaza checked his CCTV feed and allegedly spotted a customer stealing a Pokemon collection tin using a magnet.

The incident occurred on Thursday (Nov 5) at around 1.44pm, Xiao Qinyuan (transliteration) told 8World.

The 33-year-old shared that the customer was a regular, visiting the shop often for two to three months after it opened, but reducing the frequency of his visits afterwards.

Xiao said that around 1.35pm, he received WhatsApp messages from the customer on his personal and business numbers, which were deleted afterwards. 

Upon checking the store CCTV to see if the man was claiming a prize, he inadvertently caught him allegedly cheating.

According to Xiao, he appeared to have a magnet in his left hand, trying to attract a Pokemon tin.

"The first time he failed, but he was very smart," Xiao told 8World. "He timed his second attempt perfectly, synchronising with the movement of the claw, making it appear on the CCTV footage as though he were operating the claw normally to retrieve the tin. 

"He succeeded on his second try, then took the tin and walked straight away."

He added that, in his six years of running a claw machine shop, he had encountered people trying to steal items on top of the machines or cheat in other ways, but never using a magnet.

He was also surprised that the regular, whom he previously had a positive impression of, would cheat for a prize worth only $45.

Nevertheless, he intended to move the Pokemon claw machine between two other machines to prevent anyone from accessing it from the sides.

Worried the customer would use similar techniques in other claw machine shops, he also decided to reveal the tactic publicly and also reported it to the police.

In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police have confirmed that a report was lodged and that they are looking into the matter.

[[nid:741309]]

[email protected]