Japanese restaurant scams Russian tourists with fake free dinner
A premium restaurant in Kyoto, Japan, allegedly deceived Russian tourists by offering a 'free dinner' in exchange for positive reviews, then charging them tens of thousands of rubles for the second dish, often without prior warning.
Consensus
- The restaurant is located in a basement of an office building in central Kyoto.
- The restaurant is named Matt.
- The restaurant positions itself as a high-end dining establishment.
- Russian tourists were targeted via social media using geotags.
- Tourists were promised a free dinner consisting of two signature dishes from the head chef.
- The promise of a free dinner required leaving a positive review about the restaurant.
- Upon arrival, tourists were told only one dish was free, and the second had to be paid for.
- Some staff members did not inform guests of the payment requirement and directly presented a bill for tens of thousands of rubles.
- Guests were pressured to leave a five-star rating, with threats to increase the bill if they did not comply.
- Tourists often chose to pay to avoid conflict or police involvement.
- The incident was reported by Baza.
Points of divergence
- A Moscow resident previously fell victim to fraudsters who sold a fake tour to Dagestan, where she paid 12,000 rubles in advance and then lost contact with the seller. — vm
- Ghosts in Cappadocia, Turkey, sold tours to non-existent underground cities, showing tourists local warehouses and rural homes instead. — vm
Coverage (3 sources)
- A restaurant in Japan organized a divorce with a free dinner for Russian tourists — РИАМО
- Baza: Russian tourists were cheated in a restaurant in Kyoto by tens of thousands of rubles — Вечерняя Москва
- Divorce with free dinner set up premium restaurant in Japan for Russian tourists — clients found on social networks, lured by offer, and at the end presented bill for tens of thousands of rubles. — Baza