"This guy was hailing down drivers and he pointed at a car down the road and said 'My wife is in the car', and they were from Australia and they were trying to get to Wellington for his brother's funeral, but that he had been robbed and they only had $5 to their name so they needed some money for gas to get to the funeral.
"I thought it was a bit suss at the time because the car they were driving was really s**tty and I thought 'If they were from overseas they would have a rental'. But I gave him $20 and then he immediately continued to flag down more people."
Then, when she was leaving work in the nearby Otahuhu two weeks ago, she said she same the same man waving down traffic.
His wife was parked in a gold Nissan Tiida.
"I immediately recognised him and saw the same lady parked in a different car further up the road," Montgomerie said.
"I asked him if I could help him and he gave me the exact same story, to the tee, except he said he was from Northland this time.
"I got my phone out and started recording him. I told him I had met him before, to which he told me to f*** off and started walking towards the car.
"He tried to drive away and got stuck in traffic so I called the police."
Police took note of all the details, Montgomerie said, but she had not heard from them since.
After sharing the story on social media, dozens of people commented, reporting similar experiences.
Some said they saw the couple in Takanini, Manurewa and Botany.
One commenter said: "They came into our school office and said they had a body in their vehicle and had no petrol to get to the Papakura Marae from up north."
Another posted: "I met them outside Chinatown on Ti Rakau Drive. The man deserved an Oscar for his portrayal of somebody whose car had just been broken into."
Montgomerie described the couple as Caucasian, aged in their 50s or 60s. The man was of a taller, fuller build, she said, and had a white beard and no hair. The woman is of a bigger build, and has brunette hair with a fringe across her face.
"They are a very unassuming, elderly white couple," Montgomerie said.
Another woman, Danielle Muaror, claims she was approached by a couple she believes are the same people, three times, four years ago.
"It's been a long time, so the memory is blurry, but basically they approached us, gave us a long sob story about their card getting eaten by the ATM and them not having enough petrol to get to where they needed to go," she said.
"They acted completely distressed and desperate and assured us they could not find anyone else to help them."
Muaror posted on Facebook about the couple on June 12, 2013, and says she received a huge response, with thousands of comments and shares from people who encountered the same couple.
She believed the couple were aged in their 50s, dressed in average to scruffy clothes, and were accompanied by a young girl. Photos show they were driving a white Toyota Corolla.
Police say those who have complained to them did not report feeling threatened, but advised people not to give the couple money.
"Some of the people who have reported this to us have given them money as they have felt sorry for them as opposed to feeling threatened in any manner," said Counties Manukau East area prevention manager Acting Inspector Stephen Richard.
"My advice to people is if they are approached then they should decline, however if they decide to give them money they should be careful when doing so.
"Should they feel threatened in any way, they should definitely call police and we can come and speak to the people at the time."
