'Cockroach' in dish, $300 demand: Chinatown restaurant owner files police report over suspected extortion scam

A restaurant owner in Chinatown said he nearly fell for a scam after a customer allegedly used doctored photos showing a cockroach in the food to seek compensation over claims of contamination.

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, Kok Sen Restaurant owner, Huang Zhaoqiang (transliteration), 50, said he received the complaint via WhatsApp on Saturday (Oct 31) at around 8am from a customer claiming to have discovered a cockroach in food purchased the previous day.

Despite providing a receipt showing a bill of only $110, the customer demanded a $300 in compensation.

"We were very flustered and scared at the time, so we apologised to the other party and said we would definitely take responsibility," said Huang.

However, Huang soon noticed several suspicious signs, particularly the customer's insistence on receiving immediate compensation even after being told that the restaurant needed a week to investigate the complaint.

The customer also threatened to report the restaurant to the authorities and expose them online if compensation was not paid immediately.

Further doubts arose when Huang discovered that the customer was using a Malaysian mobile number and had enabled WhatsApp's 24-hour disappearing messages feature.

Huang also questioned how a cockroach that appeared so clearly in the photograph could have gone unnoticed by the restaurant staff, as well as why the customer had waited until much later to raise the complaint.

Identical photo found in Google review

Huang told Shin Min Daily News that his doubts deepened when he checked the restaurant's Google reviews and discovered that the latest review contained a photograph identical to the one sent by the complainant.

"Their methods were rather clumsy; they simply downloaded photos directly from the latest comments, processed them with artificial intelligence, and then sent them to us. We later discovered that even the receipts were found in Google," said Huang.

He added that the receipt revealed another discrepancy: it was dated Oct 22, contradicting the customer's account of when the food was purchased.

With the discrepancies uncovered, Huang told the complainant he would report the matter to the police, even as the sender insisted he was the original Google user who had posted the photo.

Huang said he has since lodged a police report.

Although the restaurant is equipped with 22 closed-circuit television cameras covering its premises, Huang urged fellow food operators to remain vigilant against similar scams.

"I have been in the food and beverage industry for so long, and this is the first time I have encountered one. I almost fell for it," said Huang.

AsiaOne has reached out to Kok Sen Restaurant for more information.

xingying.koh@asiaone.com

唐人街一家餐馆的老板说，他差点上当受骗，一名顾客据称使用篡改过的照片，照片显示食物中有蟑螂，以此来索要食物污染的赔偿。

郭仙餐厅老板黄兆强（音译，50岁）在接受《新明日报》采访时表示，他于周六（10月31日）早上8点左右通过WhatsApp收到一名顾客的投诉，该顾客声称在前一天购买的食物中发现了一只蟑螂。

尽管出示的收据显示账单金额仅为 110 美元，但该顾客仍要求赔偿 300 美元。

黄先生说：“当时我们非常慌乱和害怕，所以我们向对方道歉，并表示我们一定会承担责任。”

然而，黄很快注意到了一些可疑的迹象，特别是顾客在被告知餐厅需要一周时间来调查投诉后，仍然坚持要求立即赔偿。

该顾客还威胁说，如果餐厅不立即支付赔偿金，他将向有关部门举报餐厅，并在网上曝光餐厅的情况。

黄发现该客户使用的是马来西亚手机号码，并且启用了 WhatsApp 的 24 小时阅后即焚消息功能，这让他更加怀疑。

黄先生还质疑，照片中如此清晰可见的蟑螂，餐厅工作人员怎么可能没有注意到，以及顾客为什么过了很久才提出投诉。

在谷歌评论中发现了相同的照片

黄告诉《新明日报》，当他查看餐厅的谷歌评论时，发现最新的评论中包含一张与投诉人发送的照片一模一样的照片，这让他更加怀疑。

黄说：“他们的方法相当笨拙；他们只是直接从最新的评论中下载照片，用人工智能处理后发送给我们。我们后来发现，就连收据都是在谷歌上找到的。”

他还补充说，收据显示了另一个矛盾之处：收据上的日期是 10 月 22 日，这与顾客所说的购买食物的时间相矛盾。

发现这些矛盾之处后，黄告诉投诉人他会向警方报案，尽管发件人坚称自己是最初发布这张照片的谷歌用户。

黄先生表示，他已经向警方报案。

尽管该餐厅配备了 22 个闭路电视摄像头覆盖其场所，但黄先生仍敦促其他餐饮经营者对类似的骗局保持警惕。

“我从事餐饮行业这么多年，还是第一次遇到这种情况。我差点就上当了。”黄说道。

AsiaOne已联系Kok Sen餐厅以获取更多信息。

邢莹.koh@asiaone.com