Amid travel fund shortage, China student scams 63 hotels by placing dead cockroaches, used condoms

Over a 10-month period, Jiang managed to scam 63 hotels across multiple provinces.

A 21-year-old man from Taizhou, Zhejiang province, has been arrested for a scam that involved defrauding numerous hotels. Instead of pursuing higher education, the man opted to travel extensively, funding his trips by extorting money from hotels, South China Morning Post reported.

The man, identified only by his surname Jiang, used a rather unconventional method to achieve his goal. He would check into hotels and then deliberately contaminate the rooms with insects, hair, and used condoms. He would then threaten to tarnish the hotel's reputation online unless he received compensation or free accommodation.

Over a 10-month period, Jiang managed to scam 63 hotels across multiple provinces. He would often check into multiple hotels in a single day, meticulously planning his fraudulent activities.

"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.

Jiang's deceitful tactics finally caught up with him when a hotel manager in Linhai became suspicious of his repeated complaints and reported him to the police. A subsequent investigation revealed the extent of his fraudulent activities.

The police discovered a trove of incriminating evidence, including dead cockroaches, cicadas, strands of hair, and used condoms, which Jiang had used to fabricate unsanitary conditions in the hotel rooms.

Public outrage has erupted online following the exposure of Jiang's scam. Many netizens have expressed anger and disbelief at his actions, questioning his morality and the upbringing he received.