It seemed like a classic cautionary tale about the dangers of being scalped in Hong Kong's girlie bars - a New Zealander charged $20,000 for a single beer after his credit card slip was doctored by bar staff.
The story was put out by the BBC and CNN and appeared in newspapers as far apart as Florida and Borneo last week beneath headlines such as 'World's most expensive beer' and 'Pub-goer pays US$2,500 for a pint'.
However, the woman who investigated the case, New Zealand banking ombudsman Liz Brown, put a different spin on the colourful tale, telling the Sunday Morning Post the victim's testimony was highly unreliable.
'We didn't believe him,' she said bluntly.
Named only as 'Mr B', the victim claimed he believed he had paid $19 using his Visa card for a single beer on a visit in February last year.
'Weeks later, when he got home, he received a credit card bill showing he had been charged $20,000,' Ms Brown said.