“Found this fake violin scammer outside Kroger. SMH what is that bow hold?”
Have you ever been in a strip mall parking lot, maybe outside a food store or Marshalls, and seen someone like this guy passionately playing the violin for money?
Perhaps they had a sign that tugged at your heart strings, something like – help me feed my hungry children. But they weren’t just playing any violin, it was an electric violin, amplified through a speaker.
Well there’s a chance that person was a faker pretending to play the instrument, and that sweet sound was just a recording. ICE recently arrested a 22-year-old from Italy made 80 grand doing that over the last year. He too was only pretending to play. And despite his sign, it turns out he doesn’t even have children.
Now this Italian stallion is facing a family sized shopping list of charges including organized scheme to defraud, failure to register as a charitable organization and battery on a law enforcement officer.
These scams have taken place all over the country.
Sometimes someone says they’re playing for their children, some just go ahead and have their children play as they sit and supervise. Police have put out warnings saying you need to be careful giving money to these scammers, because they may not be musicians, but they’re certainly artists.
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