# Talent Abounds...Man Purchases Over 37,000 Beer Can Tab Tops, Forges "Try Again" Winning Marks to Redeem Beer, Confesses After Arrest: Also Thought It Wasn't "Worth It," But Decided to Push Through to Break Even

Recently, the Yangyi Police Station in Wenzhou, Zhejiang received a report that a beer manufacturer discovered abnormalities in redemption tab tops. Police arrested suspect Chen, who had purchased over 37,000 blank caps to forge "Try Again" winning marks. He had been fraudulently redeeming prizes across multiple districts for over half a year, ultimately facing the consequences of his actions.

Chen is in his 50s and normally works on construction sites. He stated that his financial situation was tight at the time, and he hoped to earn extra money to supplement his family income, which led him to harbor dishonest intentions. In mid-2025, while drinking beer, Chen discovered that the winning information printed on beer can tab tops was relatively easy to counterfeit, sparking the idea to privately manufacture fake tabs to exchange for beer.

Chen acted quickly on his idea. He purchased over 37,500 blank beer can caps in batches through online shopping platforms, then hired someone to print false "Try Again" winning information on the blank caps. He then packaged the tabs to use as redemption vouchers. To avoid arousing merchants' suspicion, Chen deliberately chose supermarkets across multiple neighborhoods in Wenzhou for redemptions.

He adopted a "small quantities, multiple times" approach, exchanging only 2 to 4 cases of beer at each supermarket per visit, then moving to a different location after each exchange, using a "guerrilla-style" method to reduce the risk of detection. Using this method, starting from mid-2025, Chen continuously engaged in illegal prize redemptions for over half a year without being caught on the spot.

By February this year, the beer manufacturer discovered that some winning tabs had blurry font printing and even had missing characters. Moreover, the number of redeemed tabs was significantly higher than the winning probability, prompting them to call for police assistance.

"Could someone be privately forging winning tabs?" With this question, officers from Yangyi Police Station quickly launched an investigation. Through door-to-door inquiries, they quickly identified suspect Chen. He had frequently appeared at liquor retail stores, each time carrying a large bag of winning tabs. Police swiftly arrested him and brought him in. Over 2,000 counterfeit winning tabs were discovered at the scene.

"We advised Chen that since he has such drive and initiative, he should focus on rehabilitation going forward. After returning to society, he should not walk down the wrong path again," the officer said.

Chen confessed that during his criminal activities, he also felt it wasn't "worth it." Not only did he fail to earn the large amount of money he expected, but he also invested considerable time and effort. However, considering that he had already invested funds upfront to purchase materials and print tabs, he thought he needed to recoup his initial investment first, so he continued pushing through with his crimes until he was arrested by police.

Currently, Chen has been subjected to criminal compulsory measures by public security authorities on suspicion of fraud, and the case is being further handled.