Shoppers across Auckland are being warned to keep their wallets shut when approached by people dressed as Buddhist monks who hand over a bracelet and then press for cash, after a run of complaints from people who felt cornered into paying.
Auckland Council says reports have grown of individuals in monk style robes stopping pedestrians, placing beads or bracelets on their wrists and then producing a notebook full of names and dollar figures before asking for a donation. The same behaviour has been reported well beyond Auckland, with similar encounters logged in Wellington and other parts of the country.
The pattern described by people who have been targeted is strikingly consistent. A person dressed as a monk approaches, offers a gold blessing card, bows, and slips a bracelet or string of beads onto the wrist. Once the item is on, a small notebook comes out, listing names each followed by an amount such as $20, and the person is asked to add their own name and hand over money. People who refuse often have the item taken back just as quickly.
Julia Bainbridge was approached with her sister in law outside Westgate Shopping Centre on 6 June. A man handed them gold cards and put bracelets on their wrists, then showed a notebook with names and $20 entries beside them. She ended up giving $25. Others have described being asked for $10 for black beads, and one woman noticed the handwriting in the donation book looked the same all the way down the page, which made her suspect the list of earlier givers had been made up on the spot.
The encounters have been reported at busy spots including Queen Street, Wynyard Quarter and Aotea Square in the central city, as well as Westgate Shopping Centre, Viaduct Harbour, Hobsonville Point and supermarket car parks. In the Wellington region people have reported the same approach from Tawa to Miramar, including at Lower Hutt’s Queensgate Shopping Centre and a Pak’nSave at Kilbirnie. Some people say the approaches have become pushy, with reports of collectors stopping cars, opening doors and pressing strangers for up to $50.
Lisa Cribbens, the council’s acting general manager of licensing and compliance, said anyone collecting money in public legitimately needs the right paperwork. “People who are lawfully undertaking [fundraising] activities are required to hold either a fundraising licence or a street trading permit,” she said. She urged people not to engage and to contact police if they felt intimidated or if the behaviour turned deceptive or aggressive.
Police have echoed that advice. Inspector Beth Houliston, the relieving area commander for Auckland Central, said people should feel free to walk away rather than feel obliged to pay. “If you are approached by someone dressed as a monk, and are being handed bracelets and demanded to hand over cash, please do not engage,” she said. She also asked anyone caught up in it to come forward. “It’s very important that anyone reports being approached in these circumstances to police as soon as you are able to.”
The New Zealand Buddhist Council has been quick to draw a line between these street collectors and genuine monastics, worried that the scam tarnishes a faith followed by tens of thousands of New Zealanders. Council chair Robert Hunt said the conduct ran against everything ordained monks are taught. “Our concern is that this demanding of money and offering blessings or trinkets in exchange for payment, it’s not how genuine Buddhist monks conduct themselves,” he said. He said demanding money was unacceptable in all situations, and that real monks do not pressure strangers, chase donations or steer people towards cash machines.
That distinction matters, because the people behind these approaches are not following Buddhist practice at all. Genuine monks rely on freely offered alms and would never put a price on a blessing or insist on payment in return for a trinket. The warning is as much about protecting an honest community from being tarred by the behaviour as it is about protecting people’s pockets.
Immigration New Zealand has also taken an interest, because anyone earning money this way could be breaching their visa conditions. Jason Perry, the agency’s national manager of investigations, said the law takes a broad view of what counts as working. “Work means any activity undertaken for gain or reward,” he said, a definition wide enough to capture street collecting that brings in cash.
This is not the first time the approach has surfaced here. Similar fake monk collecting was reported on the country’s busiest streets back in 2015, and versions of it turn up in cities around the world, which is part of why officials are keen to get the warning out early this time rather than let it spread quietly through the winter shopping crowds.
The advice from the council, the police and the Buddhist community all lands in the same place. If someone in robes tries to slip a bracelet onto your wrist and then asks for money, you are under no obligation to pay. You can simply hand the item back and walk on, and you can report the encounter to police, especially if it tips into intimidation. Legitimate charities collecting on the street will be able to show a licence or a permit if you ask to see one.
Have you been approached by one of these street collectors in Auckland or in your own town? Share your experience in the comments below and help others know what to watch for.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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