Seven suspects were arrested after being caught impersonating monks and swindling over 160,000 yuan, or 25,787 dollars from over 100 tourists visiting the Shaolin Temple in Henan Province.

Dressed as Shaolin Temple Monks, the seven gave away stones claiming that they were lucky. After unsuspecting tourists accept the stones, the fake monks gave advices about the tourists' families based on ominous signs, saying that they have to give "donations" to get rid of the bad luck.

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The local authorities collected seven notebooks from the suspects which contains their victims' record and personal information. According to police, the fake monks walk around far from the temple to avoid being busted by the real Shaolin monks.

Founded in the fifth century, the Shaolin Temple in Songshan, Henan Province have become famous for their history association with martial arts particularly Shaolin Kung Fu, attracting millions of tourists every year.

However, the local tourism has been defiled by acts of fraud allegedly related to Buddhism and the well-known Shaolin Kung Fu.

In an announcement released in 2010, the Shaolin Temple monks of Songshan have declared that they would not perform kung fu, tell fortunes, sell medicine and ask for money outside the temple grounds.

The term Shaolin came from "shao", refering to Shaoshi Mountain, one of the seven mountains comprising Songshan Mountain range where the Temple is situated, and "lin" which means "forest".

TagsShaolin Temple, Shaolin Kung Fu, fake shaolin monks, scam, tourist scam, Fraud