'Monks' target shoppers, demanding money for bracelets and trinkets

Wellington shoppers have been left bemused, frustrated, and angry by an alleged group handing out religious-looking tokens then asking for money.

Members of the public have told RNZ the interaction was strange, while others described the approach as aggressive and confrontational.

• Do you know more? Email iwitness@rnz.co.nz

Some took to social media in May, warning others of the behaviour and likening it to 'fake monk' scams previously reported in Auckland in 2015 and overseas.

Police told RNZ then that they hadn't received reports of that nature, but Lower Hutt's Queensgate mall said security removed and trespassed a person trying to sell bracelets about a month ago.

Immigration New Zealand said it has not received any complaints relating to faith-based scams involving migrants.

Now police in Auckland are warning those in the city centre not to engage with people dressed as monks reportedly demanding cash for bracelets.

RNZ has approached police asking for an update on the Hutt Valley incidents, and whether the Hutt Valley and Auckland incidents are linked.

'I told him to piss off'

There's only one space left in the sprawling Lower Hutt mall car park, but as Sue* pulls in, a man is suddenly in front of her.

She waves him away through the window and he responds by brandishing some "gold-painted discs".

"He was speaking in ... I guess his own language ... and he was trying to force these little gold discs on me."

She managed to shake him off at the entrance to Queensgate Shopping Centre, but after her shop he was once again standing in front of her, but this time he had some black beads.

He wanted $10 for them.

"In the end I told him to piss off," Sue said.

Ultimately, the man was escorted out by security and according to Sue, crossed the road and joined a group of others.

A spokesperson for Queensgate Shopping Centre confirmed an individual trying to sell bracelets to visitors was removed by security and trespassed last month.

They said they understood the issue was widespread.

According to posts on social media there have been similar incidents between shoppers and individuals with bracelets played out in car parks across the wider Wellington region in the past few months.

Some have described odd or uncomfortable interactions with men and women asking for money in exchange for beads or little cards.

After telling the man in the Queensgate car park she didn't want beads or discs, Sue said she found her way blocked.

"He wouldn't let me walk forward ... I got in my car and he starts tapping on the window of my car.

"I was just angry that I couldn't get away from him. He was just being a nuisance. I wasn't afraid of him.

"But it was very, very insistent. Standing right in front of you very close, face-to-face."

Possibly a scam - shopper

Wellingtonians who spoke to RNZ said they hadn't seen the people since.

Although Lower Hutt resident, Margaret* said she'd no longer park the car with the windows down, after a man approached it outside her local Pak'nSave.

"He gave me this little card, which I took and I said 'thank you' and next minute he sticks a bangle on my wrist."

The man was middle-aged, dressed in a brown top and matching pants with a little hat she said, and didn't appear to speak English.

"He showed me this book and it's got names in it and 'donation $20'. But it looked like it was the same writing."

Margaret said the handwriting in the book made her suspicious as it appeared to belong to one person, rather than multiple people who had allegedly donated cash.

"I thought 'no, there's something not right here.' So it possibly is a scam."

She told him she didn't have any money.

"He just took the card off me and the bangle off my wrist - so quick - and gone."

She said she was surprised later that day, to find numerous comments on a Facebook post detailing a similar experience of being offered a 'gift' followed by a request for payment.

The commenters described being approached in car parks and shops from Tawa to Miramar.

Margaret said the man immediately left her alone, but a shopper at Pak'nSave Kilbirnie told RNZ the elderly man who approached her in the car park was "scarily insistent".

She said he was wearing loose, grey clothes and appeared to be "monk-adjacent" and although didn't seem to speak English, "understood the instant I went from polite refusal to angry".

In March, an RNZ staffer said he witnessed a person dressed in dark "monk-like" robes approaching pedestrians in Auckland.

He said the middle-aged man was trying to get people to sign a book beneath the Sky Tower.

Behaviour reminiscent of 'fake monk' scam

Reports have circulated overseas for years of 'fake monks' offering religious tokens or blessings in exchange for a donation, sometimes to repair a temple or shrine.

In 2015, the NZ Herald reported on an alleged Chinese syndicate recruiting fake charity "monks" to target pedestrians abroad and that that year police had spoken to at least three "begging monks" in Auckland and Wellington.

Immigration New Zealand told the New Zealand Herald at the time, that it had no knowledge of a syndicate but was seeking more information.

Responding to RNZ's request for information about the incidents this year, National manager of investigations Jason Perry, said Immigration New Zealand hadn't received any recent complaints relating to faith-based scams involving migrants.

He noted that visitor visa holders were not allowed to undertake any work while in New Zealand.

"Work means any activity undertaken for gain or reward and includes any payment or benefit that can be valued in terms of money, such as board and lodging, goods and services.

"Begging or soliciting donations could be considered to be an 'activity undertaken for gain or reward.'"

A police spokesperson told RNZ Wellington staff weren't aware of any such reports or complaints.

A Foodstuffs spokesperson said there hadn't been any recent incidents but that stores do see similar things pop up from time to time. They asked that shoppers flag anything that didn't look right.

"We take a pretty firm line on it. If we spot it, we ask people to move on. If they don't, we call police and trespass them."

A spokesperson for Woolworths said it hadn't received any complaints from shoppers about being approached.

"But we do encourage members of the public to let our store managers know of any unsolicited collections."

Sue, meanwhile, said the person she saw didn't appear to be dressed like a monk at all and the experience hadn't put her off shopping - she returned to the mall that week.

"It's just people trying to earn money I guess.

"If I want to buy something I will go somewhere and purchase it. I don't want people coming to me demanding money."

*RNZ agreed to her use first name only.

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