The 'brushing' scam that's behind mystery parcels

Re:The 'brushing' scam that's behind mystery parcels by LiquidSky on Tuesday September 08, 2020 @05:24PM (#24413605)

In the Pre-Covid Age that scam was pretty common in NYC, too. Usually it's someone dressed as a Buddhist monk in a tourist area like Times Square who will walk up to you and press a charm into your hand, then ask for payment. This happened to me when I first moved here years ago. I wasn't sure what was happening so I thanked him and kept walking, thinking it was some kind of religious proselytizing thing. He came after me and angrily demanded money, so I handed the charm back and left.

Here's an article from a few years ago about these fake monks being a nuisance on the High Line park: https://gothamist.com/news/the-high-line-is-struggling-with-...

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Re:The 'brushing' scam that's behind mystery parcels by saalweachter on Tuesday September 08, 2020 @09:57PM (#24415952)

My policy is to never take anything from any person on the street. Flyers, comic club tickets, CDs, cans of soda, I don't want the interaction.

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Re:The 'brushing' scam that's behind mystery parcels by davchana on Tuesday September 08, 2020 @09:20PM (#24415670)

It happens in every tourist city, I experienced roses in Paris, bracelets in Madrid, Donations in Berlin.

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Re:The 'brushing' scam that's behind mystery parcels by eru on Tuesday September 08, 2020 @09:53PM (#24415920)

I had a similar scam happen to me in Istanbul:

A shoeshiner would walk in front of you, 'accidentally' drop their brush. As a decent human you pick it up and hand it to them.

Then the guy insists to give you a 'free' shoe shine. After he's done, he demands payment.

The first time that happened to me, the perpetrator ruined my suede shoes. (I didn't even mind losing the few dollars for the unplanned shine otherwise..) A few days later, on the second time I didn't pick up the brush.

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