{"id":1082538,"date":"2021-12-04T00:43:44","date_gmt":"2021-12-04T05:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1082538"},"modified":"2021-12-04T00:43:46","modified_gmt":"2021-12-04T05:43:46","slug":"police-warn-of-scam-artist-violin-players-at-shopping-centers-around-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/police-warn-of-scam-artist-violin-players-at-shopping-centers-around-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Police Warn of Scam Artist Violin Players at Shopping Centers Around Country"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpolice-warn-of-scam-artist-violin-players-at-shopping-centers-around-country%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1082538&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/violin-player-violinist-pexels-clem-onojeghuo-stock-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">Police are warning citizens around the country of scam artists who pretend to play the violin at shopping centers and parking lots while an instrumental plays through a speaker.<\/p>\n<p>The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) in Maryland <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mcpnews\/status\/1466525772093353987?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1466525772093353987%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost-new.php\">tweeted<\/a> a warning of the trend on Thursday.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"12.371191135734\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WARNING: This is a nationwide issue, please be aware of scam violin players in Rockville and other location&#8217;s shopping centers. They are soliciting money through cash AND electronic methods.   <\/p>\n<p>Please share this alert to others. Stay Safe.  <\/p>\n<p>#scamviolinplayers#MCPnews <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Axjj7tnkuk\">pic.twitter.com\/Axjj7tnkuk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Montgomery County Department of Police (@mcpnews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mcpnews\/status\/1466525772093353987?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 2, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWARNING: This is a nationwide issue, please be aware of scam violin players in Rockville and other location\u2019s shopping centers,\u201d the MCPD tweeted. \u201cThey are soliciting money through cash AND electronic methods.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>MCPD followed up with another tweet on Friday, stating in part that the department does \u201c<span>not enforce panhandling laws and there is no criminal violation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>\u201cThese individuals are pretending to play the violin over a music trac [<em>sic<\/em>] and claim to be homeless or have a sick relative, which is usually untrue,\u201d the department added. \u201cMCPD cannot discourage anyone from giving money, but does offer a word of warning to be cautious, especially if using phone apps.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>An incident was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/news\/police-street-performers-tug-on-heartstrings-for-tips-but-the-music-and-story-arent-real\">documented<\/a> last month in Pinellas Park, Florida, according to Fox 13. Crime and Prevention and Community Policing Corporal James Gatti told the outlet that the scammers usually hold signs asking for help with rent, food, and the care of relatives and sometimes children stand beside a counterfeit performer as they pretend to play.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe second we pull up, they drop the violin, but the music is still playing through the speaker,\u201d Gatti told Fox 13.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Gatti says the con artists are part of an organized group that plays on people\u2019s emotions rather than violin strings.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span> \u201cThey are just traveling through the southeastern United States, stopping in different places,\u201d he said.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>Early in 2020, an actual violinist,&nbsp;<\/span><span>Jewel Kirkendoll, came across a man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ketk.com\/news\/local-news\/traveling-scam-artists-make-way-into-tyler-as-counterfeit-musicians-ask-for-money\/\">pretending<\/a> to play the violin at the Broadway Market Center in Tyler, Texas, according to KETK. Kirkendoll called the man on his bluff.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span>Watch<\/span><\/strong><strong><span> Below:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Man pretending to play violin confronted by citizen\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/r2GMyEX-mIA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got my violin out and I asked him if I could play with him, and he was like yeah sure,\u201d Kirkendoll told KETK. \u201cHe didn\u2019t play, so I said is it because you don\u2019t really know how to play, and he was like yeah, I\u2019m so sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Corporal Gatti has a word of advice for anyone that comes across the scammers.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThere\u2019s many other places that you can give that hard earned money of yours to you, that it\u2019s going to actually go for what it\u2019s intended for, as opposed to somebody fooling you with what they\u2019re asking the money for,\u201d he told Fox 13.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Police are warning citizens around the country of scam artists who pretend to play the violin at shopping centers and parking lots while an instrumental plays through a speaker. The &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1082538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1082538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1082538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1082538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1082538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1082538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1082538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}