A PIANO scam affecting charities and schools has reached the borough.
A church has shared their experience with Wokingham.Today to highlight the fraudsters’ methods.
Anyone receiving the offer of a free second hand piano should take note.
A borough church representative said: “I was sent an email from someone I know, forwarding a message they had been sent, and which they believed might be of interest.”
The message had come from a woman whose husband had passed away, saying that she had a three year old Yamaha grand piano she wanted to donate to a charity or church.
“My colleague had replied to find out more, and had been told that the instrument was still available,” the representative said.
“Our first thoughts were, wow! What a generous offer.”
“Such a piano could be worth thousands of pounds, and would have been a very considerable gift.
“Like many organisations, our piano has seen better days, so to receive such a kind message was very exciting.
“We asked if we could come and see the piano, which looked beautiful in the photograph.”
The donor explained that unfortunately the instrument had just gone into storage, but that the shipping company could be contacted to arrange delivery.
The church was asked to contact the company for a quote for the cost of delivery.
At this point alarm bells, rather than church bells, began to ring.
“Even if it were to cost a fraction of the price of a piano to have it delivered, I could never spend any of the church’s money on something I hadn’t actually seen,” said the representative.
“I brought the subject up at a group meeting, and another friend who serves on the board of governors at a borough school told me that they had received a similar email.”
The school had been warned about a piano scam to take payment for delivery of a non existent piano.
“Because the tone of the emails was very friendly and chatty, I had assumed that my colleague knew the sender, and was therefore less alert to the possibility that this might be a scam,” they continued.
“Messages were well written, just what you would expect to hear from someone making a generous gesture.
“Churches and charities are in danger of being attacked by these wicked people.
“We didn’t fall for it in the end, but others might not be so lucky.”
An online search for ‘piano scam’ reveals the extent of the problem.
People talk about receiving requests for payment via their phone or an App for the shipping fee.
The piano never arrives, and the website or email of the removal company is fake.
A this time the fraudsters’ story is that of a bereaved widow, although the tale may change and the piano model might vary from message to message.
But the warning is the same – don’t be fooled into paying for a piano you haven’t actually seen for yourself.
The scammers may well tell you that they are happy to donate their much loved relative’s piano to a good home, but the truth is that they are much happier to con you out of your charity or school’s money.
