A honeymoon trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah took a turn for a couple from China after they found a hidden camera in their Airbnb accommodation.
Camera in wall socket
The woman shared her story on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu,
After reaching the Airbnb at 3am on Sep. 6, she asked her husband to check the room for hidden cameras.
Despite their lethargy and the additional trouble of inspecting the room, she said she was thankful they did so.
What they found was a camera strategically placed opposite the bed, hidden between two USB ports.
Images by 珍美BEAUTY/Xiaohongshu.
Her partner had spotted a hole in the wall socket, and when he shined his phone flashlight, he could see that there was a reflective surface behind it.
The socket came off easily, and behind it was a small camera, akin to something you might find on a phone.
Images by 珍美BEAUTY/Xiaohongshu.
Images by 珍美BEAUTY/Xiaohongshu.
Images by 珍美BEAUTY/Xiaohongshu.
More awareness needed
After sharing the incident with her friends, she highlighted that none of the her female friends could point out the camera in the photo.
She added: "Guys might be more familiar with these gadgets and can detect them, but girls need to pay more attention."
She also decided to share her experience publicly to raise awareness about this issue.
"It turns out that such incidents do not only appears in the news, this kind of thing will really happen to us!"
The bed is a very "sensitive" spot to position the camera, wrote the woman.
After discovering the camera, she did not dare to take off her clothes or take a shower.
Her partner covered the camera with some tissue paper while they rested for the night.
She contacted Airbnb the next day and commended Airbnb for helping them to check out and stay in another hotel.
Lodged a police report
When she reached out to the Airbnb host about the issue, they did not respond.
She eventually went to the police station to make a report.
The Airbnb host allegedly told the police that the couple was making a fuss to avoid paying for the stay.
However, the woman thought it didn't make sense for her to go through all this trouble just for a one night stay worth RMB400 (S$75).
Police investigating matter
Kota Kinabalu police chief assistant commissioner Mohd Zaidi Abdullah said the police received a report from the Chinese couple at 5.27pm on Sep. 7, reported The Star.
He shared that a probe had been conducted at the said premises and the police had seized the spy cam in question.
“Efforts are underway to identity the suspect(s) involved,” said Mohd Zaidi.
The police are investigating the case under Section 509 of the Penal Code for outrage of modesty.
He also denied the woman's claims that the police had advised her to take down her social media post about the incident.
She had initially removed it, but later reposted it after returning to China.
Top images via 珍美BEAUTY/Xiaohongshu.
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