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Asian women are being targeted by men posing as wheel clampers in Auckland, who charge them upwards of $200 to get their vehicles back.
Thought to be working in pairs, the men illegally clamp vehicles in private and public carparks before threatening the owners if they don't cough up.
Sunny Seon, 39, a Korean who has lived in Auckland for almost six months, was approached by two men while parked in a carpark outside a Parnell apartment block three weeks ago.
Seon, who was with a friend at the time, said the men told her they had
clamped her and handed over a piece of yellow paper which ordered them to pay $250.
"It was not a council parking place and they were not wearing any uniform," she said. "They swore at us, saying 'f*** you, Koreans'
and made us pay $250. I was afraid."
The daughter of her friend asked the men for their identification, but all they had were drivers' licences.
"They did not look similar to the photo," said Seon.
The men also gave Seon a phone number to call, but when her friend tried to ring it later it was not valid.
Another 28-year-old Japanese student, who did not want to be named, said she was also asked to pay $200 by two men who clamped her car in
Ponsonby. She said she parked in a pay and display space but was not over the time limit.
"I think these men like to scare us because we are not good with English," she said. "I need my car, so I paid. I could not afford it."
Seon's English teacher, Anna Smith, said her pupil alerted her to what
happened about a week ago.
"I told her she should contact the police but these women are even scared to do that because they are not confident enough with their
English," she said.
"It's not the first time I've seen people target little Asian women. They really do pick on them because they don't speak English well and they're foreign in a new country."
Seon said the men "ran off" after they were given $250 and now her friend is too scared to park in that area.
Detective Sergeant Millar Rewi of Auckland police said people should
take action if they had suspicions about who had clamped their vehicle.
"If people get some sort of suspicion there's something not right, ring
the police or council. People might even want to consider calling a parking warden as well."
