ACCORDING TO The New York Post, “fake Buddhist monks are the new squeegee men of New York.”

The masquerading monks are largely Chinese nationals who return to Flushing flophouses with their day’s earnings, sometimes changing out of their robes on the subway, before gathering at a local restaurant for a meal that usually includes alcohol, according to one observer.

This mendicant monk, above, “reincarnated himself as a hipster.” New Yorkers have a real soft spot for Zen and prayer beads.

— Comments —

Gnon writes:

Ever since first encountering these scammers in Tokyo in 2011 I have done my best to chase them off the streets. Lately I have not seen them around, I guess this explains why. They seem to target tourists more than any others and even in Tokyo they mostly went after obviously Western people.

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