BEWARE of the Violin SCAM

BEWARE of the Violin Scam this Holiday season.

KUSI’s Tommy Sablan generously gave these girls $20, only to find out they were scammers.

Have you seen anything like this before?

[jamesb]

I don't play the violin, and can tell in the first 5 seconds she's faking it.

[macart]

Classical-trained musician here, I’ve seen these “scammers” before. Everything from the bow hold to playing position, EVEN the bow is not tight like it is supposed to be! They try to create some optical illusion to make it look like they are actually playing in SYNC at a distance, but as you get closer to them, it’s obvious. It’s very sad to actually think there are people out there who are willing to do this and insult us.

[scottt]

She’s doing a terrible job of faking it.

[chiloveradiouncut]

The more I listen and watch the funnier this is.

[johnwhodat]

If she can play a violin with holding the bow like that then she deserves my dollar 😂

[KhalKhtri]

People are so guillable. That's the problem with this country.

[Ivanofficial]

Who in the world holds a bow like that. I think even non-violinists will notice this

[TwylaWorld]

They are Romani. They are doing this in parking lots across the country. Saw them recently here at my local supermarket in Northern California. If you search "fake parking lot violin" you'll see many more videos of them.

[LovelyLexluthor]

Hi, I play violin and it's funny bc she's holding the bow wrong and her bow is playing the wrong strings and notes 😬😂

[thorsonofodin]

She could be a call girl making $100-$200 hourly 😂

[boisebadboy]

A few years ago in Meridian Idaho, in the local Walmart parking lot, there were two young overweight male twins that would sit down in the grass by the busiest exit and wouldn't even hold their signs up. They would prop them on the stop sign pole and sit down all day. They did this for at least two summers. One time I saw them taking turns "playing" a violin like this and I just laughed. I once saw one of them pull out of a nice neighborhood on a motorcycle 😂 Haven't seen them for years now

[ijustgottasaythis]

Holding the bow wrong... writes beautiful signs tho...

[Ryumario]

Imagine she doesn’t have YouTube premium so a grammarly ad pops out and goes like “GRAMMARLY HELPS YOU-“

[JanetLaCroix]

What are the violins plugged into and are the violins the actual devises? I saw one of these today playing what looked like a real violin plugged into a speaker and heard recorded music, not her playing. What I cannot figure out is where the device is located and why there is a cord going from the violin to the speaker, also, if the violin in real, how can the bow go across the strings without any sounds coming from the actual violin? It must be a real electric violin plugged into the speaker to make it look like it is being amplified and the recording device is hidden, but the sound is still coming out the speaker.

[aliecarey]

This is hilarious! She is not a very good faker 🤣

[roberttemple]

I confronted a similar pair yesterday at one of our local supermarket's entrance/exits in Brunswick, Maine. I asked the male violinist, about in his 50s, to play me a piece without the accompaniment [wherein the "violin" parts are found]. He pretended not to understand English and fumbled with the violin's cord at the amp end. Same violin as seen here, btw. Then, a 50ish overweight, swarthy woman appeared. She didn't take kindly to me exposing their scam. She spoke to me in Romanian or whatever Gypsy tongue they use, flipped me the bird and gave me a mock "moon". I circled around and came up behind them with my phone camera trained on them. The woman came at me and made a hissing sound as she made a mock swipe at me, slashing the air. I told them that's what the cops need to see. I also observed her scoping out the insides of parked cars there. These folks Always work in groups. They were gone when I returned an hour or so later. A couple or so years ago, I fell for their scam, right at the same spot. It was a different guy who "played" beautifully. He seemed to have the right fingerings on the strings [as if I knew, I play piano and harmonicas, jazz/blues], and he had the standard bowing, or so I thought, and a nice smile. He also had a big sign with words on it like "honest", and "god" and "thank you". He had a couple of young teen girls with him, swarthy with dark, unsmiling eyes, the dead eyes look, suspicious, so common with this clan. Still, I tipped the guy five dollars, I think, and left. So, after yesterday's event, I went home to quickly learn a few choice phrases in Romanian. As mentioned earlier, they were gone. I so wanted to say to the woman, "Isti un porc!!!". Next time, if there is another scam "violinist" here, I'm going to open with Portugues. Knowing that won't be understood by them, I will then speak in English with a fake Brasilian accent. And I will smilingly ask them to play me a tune, unaccompanied. Or, maybe I'll take a harmonica and play some simple tune like Three Blind Mice and ask them to repeat it, knowing full well they can't. And then I will make sure they know what scum they are. They put the "tune" in opportunists.

[arongomez]

PLS THE WAY SHES HOLDING THE BOW U ALREADY KNOW LMFAOO

[dirkdiggler]

She might have some other hidden talents she can exploit!

[deductivereasoning]

Yes, quite a bit lately. Anytime I go to a music show for a major act I hear backing tracks.

I see industry artists faking it all the time - and they have been for decades.

What's the difference?

[jaimegmc]

I’ll give some $$$ but for other services!