A young man stranded in a pyramid selling scheme throws his ID and a banknote to seek for help.
(ECNS) -- A victim stranded in a pyramid selling scheme was rescued after he dropped banknotes containing written words seeking assistance from a building in the eastern Chinese city of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province.
A woman surnamed Xu found a 50-yuan banknote on Aug. 23 while taking a walk and found words "help" and "110" -- the emergency phone number for police in China. Thinking it a prank by some children, she kept the money and didn't alert authorities.
On the next day, she found on the ground an ID card and cash of over 100 yuan ($15), while the notes also had words "help" and "pyramid selling".
Xu reported to police with the help of local community workers, with officials soon rescuing a man and others locked up in the building.
The victim said he threw about 800 yuan downstairs altogether but that nobody came to help.
Local police have helped him return to his hometown and put three organizers of the pyramid selling scheme under criminal detention.
Pyramid selling has been banned in China since 1998 but has remained rife in many less-developed regions.
