Man extorts 63 Chinese hotels using dead cockroaches and used condoms

The student, identified only by his last name Jiang, was arrested last week by police in Jiande City, Zhejiang Province, on charges of suspected extortion.

According to a report by the South China Morning Post, Jiang began his scheme in September 2023. Rather than enrolling in school, he chose to spend his university tuition money on travel. Once his funds were depleted, he turned to extortion to fund his lifestyle.

Jiang meticulously assembled a set of items, including dead cockroaches, cicadas, strands of hair, and used condoms, which he used to falsely claim unsanitary conditions at various hotels, demanding compensation in return.

Over the course of 10 months, Jiang regularly checked into hotels, sometimes staying in three or four different ones in a single day. He would exploit minor issues or plant insects, bugs, and hair, then threaten to file complaints or expose the hotels online unless they offered him free stays or compensation.

While many hotels chose to meet Jiang’s demands to avoid damage to their reputation, his scam finally unraveled on Aug. 8, 2024, when a hotel manager reported him to the police. Jiang had alleged unsanitary conditions and attempted to extort 400 yuan from the hotel, according to Jiupai News.

During the investigation, police arrested Jiang at a local hotel and discovered 23 packets in his possession containing dead cockroaches and used condoms. Further investigation revealed that Jiang had stayed in 380 hotels since November 2023, many of which showed financial transactions labeled "refund or compensation".