A Chinese man scammed several hotels by planting ‘dead cockroaches, used condoms’ in the rooms and filing complaints about hygine issues. He then blackmailed them to offer him free stays and also exhorted money from them. He was later arrested.

A South China Morning Post reports that a 21-year-old man, identified as Jiang, used props like cicadas, dead cockroaches, used condoms, and hair to stage hotel scams. He would check in, claim unsanitary conditions, and demand compensation or freebies.

Jiang came up with this scheme after running out of funds he was supposed to use to enrol in college

“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,” a police officer from Linhai in Zhejiang told the outlet.

After Jiang successfully scammed several hotels, the establishments started communicating within themselves and identified Jiang as a customer who had raised similar complaints, an hotel staff told the newspaper. Then one of them reported him to police as he tried to trick them.

“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,” the staff member said.

An initial investigation following Jiang’s arrest at a local hotel uncovered 23 packets of items used in his scam. Further inquiries revealed that since last year, he had stayed in over 300 hotels, successfully deceiving 63 of them. His scams have netted him a total of $5,200.