It takes 21 SMS to make a cellphone thief repent!

A Chinese thief has returned a mobile phone and thousands of yuan he stole from a woman after she sent him 21 touching text messages.

Pan Aiying, a teacher in the eastern province of Shandong, had her bag containing her mobile phone, bank cards and 4,900 yuan (in dollars, in euros) snatched by a man riding a motorcycle as she cycled home on Friday. She tried calling her lost phone with her colleague's cell phone but was disconnected. Then she began sending text messages.

Here are some of those messages: "I'm Pan Aiying, a teacher from Wutou Middle School. You must be going through a difficult time. If so, I will not blame you," wrote Pan in her first text message which did not get a response.

"Keep the 4,900 yuan if you really need it, but please return the other things to me. You are still young. To err is human. Correcting your mistakes is more important than anything," Pan wrote.

When finally she thought that she wouldn't be able to retrieve her possessions, on her way out on Sunday morning, she stumbled over a package that had been left in her courtyard only to discover it was her stolen bag. Nothing had been taken.

A letter inside the box said: "Dear Pan: I'm sorry. I made a mistake. Please forgive me. You are so tolerant even though I stole from you. I'll correct my ways and be an upright person."

I wonder if the "21 SMS technique" will work with every thief...

From: Reuters Tech News