Fake Buddhist monks cheating tourists everywhere

A monk with an alms bowl. But is he a real monk? Photo: Shutterstock

If the bald, shaven man swathed in an orange robe accosting you for money seems a little less Zen than a Buddhist monk ought to be, chances are he’s a fraud appealing to your sense of piety to bilk you of your cash.

After Melbourne, San Francisco, Toronto and Tokyo, New York has become the latest city to see a rise in what The New York Post describes as “holy terrors”, a band of Chinese nationals who hit the streets in their Nike sneakers and use the power of the pious robe to beg tourists for money.