Travel fund shortage leads Chinese student to scam 63 hotels with dead roaches, used condoms

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A man in eastern China spent his university tuition on travel instead of enrolling and scammed multiple hotels by placing dead cockroaches and used condoms in rooms when his funds ran out.

He employed this scheme to blackmail 63 hotels, seeking free accommodation and compensation, which ultimately led to his arrest and sparked public outrage online.

The 21-year-old man from Taizhou, Zhejiang province, known only by his surname Jiang, began his deceptive journey in September last year after opting to forgo university enrolment in favour of travelling with his tuition money.

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, 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.

While many hotels complied with Jiang’s demands to protect their reputations, his scam was finally exposed on Aug 8 when a manager, surnamed Ke, from one of the hotels reported Jiang to the police for extorting 400 yuan (US$55) by alleging hygiene issues.

“His complaints about supposed bugs and hair in the rooms were alarming. Upon discussing these incidents with several other hotels, we noticed a recurring pattern with this guest,” disclosed an anonymous staff member from one of the victimised hotels.

Preliminary investigations led police to apprehend Jiang at a local hotel, where a thorough search of his belongings uncovered 23 packets containing items he used to stage his scam, including dead cockroaches and dirty condoms.

Further investigations revealed that since November last year, Jiang had stayed in more than 380 hotels, many of which showed suspicious financial transactions labelled as refunds or compensation.

Later, police contacted hotels across five provinces to gather evidence, while Jiang eventually confessed to orchestrating 63 scams, extorting a total of more than 38,000 yuan (US$5,200).

The case has since been transferred to the Linhai People’s Procuratorate for further legal proceedings.

Jiang’s scam has triggered public outrage online, reported Jiupai News.

“I would like to know what major he planned to study in university. Fraud and deception? Does he have any basic morality left?” one angry observer asked.

“His parents must have worked so hard to provide this money, hoping he would learn and grow, but instead, he not only skipped school but also pulled stunts like this. Truly heartbreaking for his family,” another remarked.

“Well, now he’ll have free accommodation – in prison. He deserves it!” commented a third.

This article was first published on SCMP.