People have donned monk robes and roamed the streets of HCM City to fraudulently earn money as people continue to flock to temples and pagodas following the start of the new lunar year.

Fake monks roam the streets

During the Tet Holiday and First Full-moon Festival, a number of 'roaming monks' have appeared in HCM City, mostly trailing the streets of Chau Van Liem, Hai Thuong Lan Ong and around the temples on Nguyen Trai Street.

Even though many people know these are not real monks, they still give them money, thinking that they are doing good deeds at the start of a new year. More beggars also appear during this time of the year to earn more money.

"I know I was being tricked but I still feel sorry for them, especially when I was visiting pagodas," said Cao Thi Thuy Trinh, a local in HCM City.

As thousands of people flock to Thien Hau Temple in Binh Duong Province for the First Full-moon Festival, there is also the appearance of these fake monks in the vicinity.

Several groups of such monks were invited to police stations.

They said they were workers or freelance labourers without stable incomes. Taking alms and money as monks looks like easy and profitable work for them.

Currently, only one branch in the southern region continues to take alms. The monks will receive whatever food they are given, but not money.

They often only walk from 8am to 9am and wait until 12am to have their meals. However, the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam, tries to minimise this practice in order limit the number fake monks.

Party Secretary of HCM City Dinh La Thang asked police forces to tighten security to limit the number of beggars.

The local Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs is co-operating with relevant agencies to deal with the problem.