One business approached by the man quickly cottoned on to the fact he was "dodgy", and asked him to leave, at which point the man became "rude", but left without incident.
"If you do come across someone saying they're contracted to the Wellington City Council and offering to see these emergency torches . . . if safe, try to obtain a photo of the ID and forward it to us. Most likely that will be fraudulent.
"Whatever you do, don't give this guy access to secure areas of your store or hand over any money."
Anyone who believed they'd been targeted by someone fitting this description should contact police immediately.
Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean confirmed the council was not running any such contract.
"We think it's quite weird, actually. It's a strange kind of scam to try and pull off," he said.
"The Wellington City Council is not in the business of doing door-to-door sales of torches, or anything else for that matter."
The council had received reports the man was also targeting people in their social housing areas.
"That probably suggests that this person is sort of quite busy out there."
MacLean said there was a "definite possibility" the man was preying on people's heightened anxiety about being prepared for another earthquake.
