South Korean vlogger in soup for ‘free stay demand’

Vlogger Hyojeong Park with her streamer boyfriend Jay Streazy (right) and an unidentified friend (left)

South Korean streamer and vlogger Hyojeong Park, who goes by the name Mhyochi, is back in the spotlight, but this time she and her boyfriend are accused of threatening a hotel. A Goa-based hotelier claimed that Park and her boyfriend Jay Streazy, also an influencer, threatened the hotel management in an email saying that they would leave a negative review if their stay at the hotel was not made complimentary.

The hotel management has since shared a screenshot of the email with other hoteliers to alert them. The vlogger couple, however, claimed that they did not send the mail and added that there are various tools one can use to send fake emails like this.

According to Lalit Mishra and Glafy Castellino, who manage Goa-based Blue Ocean Hotels, the duo stayed at one of their properties - Somy Plaza Resort at Calangute in Goa. Jay Streazy, an American content creator and IRL (In Real Life) steamer, allegedly wrote to the hotel on December 23, 2022, the day they checked out, threatening the administration to make their stay complimentary.

Hyojeong Park had earlier made headlines after two men harassed her in public in Khar in November. File pic

The email, with a subject ‘5/10 hotel', which was allegedly sent by Streazy reads: "my name is jay streazy i just stayed at your hotel and I'm leaving today. I have a big follower count https://www.youtube.com/@jaystreazy/videos and so does my Korean girlfriend myhochi https://www.youtube.com/@Mhyochi we are both leaving bad reviews of your hotel and telling all our followers to leave bad reviews unless you comp our hotel stay do you know who we are? call me right away to discuss this or my followers will be leaving bad reviews. [sic]"

Streazy has over 67,000 subscribers on YouTube, while Park has 1.66 lakh subscribers on YouTube and almost 49,000 followers on Instagram. Alarmed by the email, Mishra and Cantellino tried reaching out to the couple but there was no response. They then decided to alert others and shared the email on a WhatsApp group of hotel managers across Goa.

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"We received the email on December 23, the day they checked out of the resort. We tried to contact them but there was no response for one full day. Post that, we circulated the email to the General Managers group in Goa. I think it later got circulated to the national group," said Castellino.

Jay Streazy, who allegedly sent the email to the hotel management

She added, "Our staff recognised them when they arrived and so we wanted to ensure that they enjoy their stay here. We and our staff always inquired with them about their experience and they said good things. So, we were shocked to see that email. They later claimed that they did not send the email and that their account was hacked. They also requested us to clarify the same in the group, but we need proof first."

Castellino has asked the vloggers to file a police complaint about the alleged hacking. "They can provide us with a copy of a police complaint saying their email account was hacked, and we will post a rejoinder on the group stating the same. But they do not seem to be interested in doing so. In one of the messages, Myochi said that it would be more hassle for both." Streazy could not be reached for comment.

Park, meanwhile, shared a screenshot of the controversial email on Twitter and wrote, "This is the reason why it is hard to be an IRL streamer. I got a message from the hotel and this email was shared in GM groups in India. We never sent this type of email. I know there are haters but this is out of bounds. There should be punishment and laws for internet bad faith actors."

She added, "And for future reference, We never send emails to anyone to leave bad reviews or get comps even if the stay was bad. So if you receive any type of email that uses my name, It is not me or anyone connected." Park, a 24-year-old from South Korea, is a professional live-streamer who first came to the spotlight when a video of her being harassed in public by two men in Khar on November 29 went viral. The Khar police have arrested Mobeen Chand Mohammad Shaikh and Mohammad Naqeeb Sadrealam Ansari in connection with the case.

Park told mid-day, "Since the Khar incident, I have had a hard time. I have been receiving a lot of hate messages from anonymous accounts. People find out where I am through my live streams. Now such incidents are further discouraging me. We did not send any such email. I tried explaining this to the hotel administration and even sent them screenshots of forms/tools which can be filled in to send fake emails. I do not want to face such things with another issue being highlighted."

Plenty of tools available

Ritesh Bhatia, a cyber expert, told mid-day, "Now-a-days it is very easy and common to impersonate or even spoof someone''s email ID. There are tools available online to do so. One can make out it is fake, spoofed, etc by checking the source code of the header and establishing the truth. Maligning someone in this way by sending such emails has become very common, and I am not surprised. Also, in this case, I would ask, someone seeking freebies or sending threats, why would they want to document it and put it in white."

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Day in November 2022 when Park was harassed by two men in Khar