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

Man often stayed at multiple hotels over 10 months, sometimes checking into three or four in single day

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When his travel fund ran dry, Jiang devised a scheme to scam hotels using dead roaches and dirty condoms. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/Douyin
Yating Yangin Beijing

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.

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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.

It is unclear if Jiang’s parents funded his schooling, but when the money ran out, he extorted hotels for compensation. Photo: Baidu
It is unclear if Jiang’s parents funded his schooling, but when the money ran out, he extorted hotels for compensation. Photo: Baidu

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.

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