Beggars in southwest China's Sichuan province have found a novel way to solicit money -- by making their appeals on the Internet.

Known as 'web beggars', they stay off the streets, go online, concoct sob stories, then write emails asking for money, The Beijing News said on Tuesday.

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Zhang, from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, recently received an email and forwarded it to the media.

It said: 'I am a Chengdu local. Dad died when I was a kid and mom is seriously ill. My girlfriend has just dumped me. I am so depressed that I cannot leave my home. Would you please help me with 10 yuan ($1.2) for a meal?"

The sender left the name Li Dan and a bank account number.

The reporter later found Li through QQ, a Chinese Internet chat service. He confirmed that he was 21 and had recently dropped out of the college.

"I started begging via the Internet last December, just for fun," he said. "But when I got the first deposit of 10 yuan in January, I decided to become a full-time web beggar."

Li said he knew about 10 other web beggars in Chengdu.

They all stayed at home to write emails and could probably send over 1,000 per day. They would exchange experiences and thoughts through QQ or websites for beggars.

Li has collected 168 yuan ($20) this month from all around the country.