A Cuban reported being a victim of an alleged scam in Santiago de Cuba after paying 2,200 pesos for a bottle that supposedly contained oil, only to find out that, as he claimed, it actually contained water.
William Ortiz Domínguez reported this Monday on Facebook that he bought the product in the area of San Agustín and Santa Rita from a street vendor who was carrying a dark backpack.
According to the account, the bottle was apparently sealed, but there was oil spilled on the outside. When asked by the seller why it was dirty, he replied that another bottle had broken inside the backpack.
The man also shared a video in which he is seen pouring the contents of the bottle into a frying pan, claiming that the liquid was water.
"I bought this sealed bottle of oil there in San Agustín, and it was covered in oil. I said to them, 'Hey, why is this all messy?' They replied, 'No, man, because one broke in the backpack and it got all over the place,'" he recounted.
Acting next, he displayed the contents and stated several times: “Look, it’s water. Look, it’s water. Look, God knows what kind of water that will be.”
Ortiz explained that he decided to make the complaint public to prevent others from being deceived in the same way and lamented losing 2,200 CUP in the purchase.
"Then I’ll tell you so it doesn’t happen to you and you don’t lose 2,200 pesos like I just did," he said in the recording.
In her post, she also expressed frustration over the economic situation and the vulnerability of those who buy basic products outside formal establishments.
"It's terrible this impotence that consumes us," she wrote.
The prolonged economic crisis and food shortages have led to the emergence of fraud and practices of adulteration of basic products in Cuba, employed by some sellers to profit at the expense of increasingly vulnerable consumers.
Two individuals were detained in the municipality of Bartolomé Masó, Granma, accused of selling a mixture allegedly made with water, coloring, and thickener as cooking oil, according to a report shared on social media.
In addition, in August, Public Health in Mayabeque warned that an oil sold at the El Rodeo Fairgrounds was not suitable for human consumption: tests determined that it was crude vegetable oil intended for animal feed.
In 2025, filmmaker Enrique "Kiki" Álvarez reported a scam involving a bottle marketed as extra virgin olive oil that, according to the label, primarily contained sunflower oil.
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