How far can panhandlers go before they're invading your privacy and breaking the law?

We've been tracking a local panhandling scheme in which the panhandlers claim to be helping you.

Regardless of how you feel about panhandling, we want you to know about this so you don't get caught off-guard. Many police and city leaders didn't know about the scheme until we told them.

It's a clever gimmick that targets drivers at pay parking lots.

We set up our cameras out of sight at one such lot on Fourth Avenue North, between Denny Way and Broad Street. Those cameras were rolling as two men turned up, each at different times, and worked the street.

One of the men came geared with a cardboard sign. The cameras captured him using hand gestures, directing drivers into angled street parking, then directing them to the electronic kiosk used to pay for parking.

Unsuspecting drivers followed him as he took control, showing them how to operate the meter, punching in the parking time and even retrieving the drivers' credit cards from the machine before they could react.

In some cases, the panhandler even took the parking ticket from the machine, accompanied the driver back to the car and placed the ticket on the inside of the driver's car windows.

Then he asked for money.

Public service? Or slick hustle?

Over a month and a half, we watched as the two men targeted car after car, steering them away from pricey parking lots that charge $10 to $12 for two hours, to cheaper street parking spots that only cost $3 for two hours.

"I do this at lots all around the city," said one panhandler who identified himself as Hans Morris Reuben.

Time after time, many drivers forked over part of the $9 they had just saved by parking on the street instead of the lot.

Ryan, who asked us not to use his last name, gave the panhandler $3.

"He said, 'I'd like to ask you for help, but I won't accept anything more than $5,'" Ryan said.

Cameras caught the man approaching Ryan, entering his information into the kiosk and sticking the parking ticket on Ryan's window.

"I went to put my card in and he kind of took it out of my hand," Ryan said. "Apparently I wasn't doing it right."

"You know, it's like a business for these guys," said Dennis Nelson, who owns a business along Fourth Avenue North.

One afternoon, we caught up with Reuben, who described himself as a "parking lot consultant."

"Yeah, I'm a homeless guy," Reuben said. "About a year ago me and my friends were sitting in a doorway and some cops came by. And they said because they're building 38 condos in Belltown, there will no longer be street people allowed to sit on the street anymore because it's bad for property values."

He continued to explain what led him to start focusing his panhandling on parking lots.

"So I saw that a lot of the condos were being built on parking lots. I noticed every time a condo went up, the parking prices went up. So a bunch of us decided to tell everybody that parks in these lots that they can park on the street for $3 for two hours instead of $10 or $12 for two hours."

Reuben said his mission is to take a bite out of big parking lot profits by helping drivers get a better deal. He admits he asks for money after the fact.

"But it's panhandling. It isn't fraud, understand," he said.

It's not fraud. And it may even be legal.

By law, panhandling is only illegal in Seattle if it's aggressive and intimidating.

If someone is standing with a coin cup and sign asking for money, that's passive and therefore not illegal. But if someone is in your face, obstructing your path and intimidating you in the process of trying to get you to give money, that's aggressive and illegal in Seattle.

"All I do is help people use the machines. I explain the rules," Reuben said.

"I've had people be a lot more aggressive than that," said Ann O'leary, a Seattleite familiar with the homeless situation. She refused to give any money to the parking lot panhandler.

But what about grabbing people's credit cards? Is that aggressive?

"I wasn't real comfortable with him touching my bank card," said Ryan.

Then why did he go along and give Hans $3?

"Not in the mood to get in an argument over a couple of bucks or whatever," he explained.

"They're afraid not to give him money," said retailer Chris Clark. "Because they're not sure what he's going to do to their car, I guess. I'd be inclined to maybe give them a couple bucks because I don't want them breaking into my car while I'm gone."

Our hidden camera even caught one of the panhandlers blocking an on-street parking space, beckoning a driver to pull into the spot where he's standing.

"How is it that you guys are sitting out here with a camera?" asked restaurant customer Nate Rich. "Obviously this happens a lot. And there aren't police officers out here, catching them?"

In fact the police do make visits to the area as a response to complaints. But most of the complaints are trespass complaints from businesses, not the public.

On one day, police did detain Reuben for several minutes, but with no first-hand complaint about aggression or intimidation, he was released and ordered to leave the area. Five days later, he was back in action at the same spot.

Some consumers say it's no big deal. But police and even homeless advocates say you should not feel obligated to give money or accept a panhandler's services if you don't want to be bothered.

If you're harrassed or intimidated, complain to police and complain to a nearby business.

Retailers don't want to lose your business and they're making noise to keep illegal and aggressive panhandlers from scaring customers away.

There are also reports of panhandlers positioning themselves at drive-through car washes, using rags to dry cars as the cars exit, then asking for money.

So stay alert. Panhandling tactics are changing in the Seattle area and you may run into other clever gimmicks. Just don't feel obligated to go along with the game.