Woman racks up £50,000 bill at restaurant after posting image of meal on social media

With the world's economy in such dire straits, it's no wonder that people across the globe are alarmingly tightening their purse strings.

And particularly now, as the festive period is upon us - infamously the most expensive time of year - people are turning down plans left, right and centre in the hope of saving a few pennies for Christmas.

Last month, however, one woman in China opted to treat herself to a lunch-time catch-up with a pal - a decision which would subsequently cost her thousands.

The woman in question, surnamed Wang, and her friend were enjoying a delicious meal at a hotpot restaurant in Kunming, Southwest China when she made the decision to mark the special occasion by snapping a photo of her food.

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Like many FoodTok stars or Instagram foodies out there, Wang didn't think anything of her decision to post the image of mouth-watering meal on the Chinese app WeChat.

When the time came to pay her bill, however, the unknowing diner was presented with a hefty receipt for a mind-boggling 430,000 yuan (around £50,000).

But how?

Getty/d3sign

Well, it turns out, that in the food porn photo that she uploaded online was her table's QR code, which she and her friend had used to order their meal.

And when someone else has access to your table's QR code, they have the ability to add meals onto your order.

Despite the snap only having been shared with a handful of her selected contacts, however, a few shady souls clearly thought it funny to add a ludicrous amount of food to her bill.

According to The South China Morning Post, the social media rascals had added as much as 2,580 orders of squid, 1,850 orders of duck blood (a popular delicacy in the region) and 9,990 portions of shrimp paste.

Getty/patpitchaya

Despite quickly realising the error in her ways and deleting the online upload, Wang continued to be inundated with orders.

Luckily for the poor diner, the owners of the restaurant were sympathetic when it came to their customer's mistake, letting her off without having to pay her enormous bill.

In fact, the kind restauranteurs are said to have moved her and her friend to a new table to distinguish the real orders from the frauds.

And having learned their own lesson, the eatery has altered its ordering system so they can now only be placed within a certain distance of the property.