A 21-year-old student from East China has been caught using a unique yet gross scheme to extort hotels. Jiang, a resident of Taizhou, Zhejiang province, used his dwindling university tuition money to implement this scam over 10 months starting in September. He checked into 63 hotels, sometimes visiting up to four in a single day. Jiang would place items like dead cockroaches and used condoms in the rooms to create a facade of uncleanliness. He then threatened hotel managers with potential online defamation unless they provided compensation or free stays.
According to the South China Morning Post, the student exploited hotel policies for financial gain. It remains unclear whether the school funds were provided by his parents or the total amount spent. However, when his finances dwindled, Jiang resorted to a “creative” scheme to extort compensation from hotels.
He meticulously prepared a collection of “props” in advance-including dead cockroaches, cicadas, and strands of hair-and used condoms-to fabricate unsanitary conditions and extract compensation from multiple establishments.
“Over a span of 10 months, Jiang frequently stayed at hotels, sometimes checking into three or four different ones in a single day. He would exploit minor flaws or plant insects, bugs, and hair to threaten hotels with complaints or online exposure, demanding free stays or compensation,” explained an unnamed police officer from Linhai in Zhejiang.
Many hotels bow down before the con artist out of fear of losing revenue and reputation, but in August, one hotel manager told police that Jiang attempted to extort 400 yuan (Rs 4700) by alleging fake hygiene issues.