If you’re in the market for a piano, then you know that the instrument can cost a hefty price and is not easy (or cheap) to transport. Scammers are targeting music lovers, businesses, schools, and churches with a new scam that claims to offer a piano donation for free, but phony moving and delivery fees and other “unexpected fees” may leave them out hundreds of dollars with no piano to play.
How this scam works
You receive an email or find a listing on social media from someone who claims they are trying to donate their piano. The person shares a little of their backstory and says their now deceased husband or wife was a music lover and wanted the piano to be given away to a family, a church, or another fellow music enthusiast. The story pulls at your heartstrings, so you ask for more details. The individual states that the piano is of no cost, and better yet, it’s in impeccable condition! The only catch is that you must pay the shipping fees.
The shipping details have already been worked out with a moving company (how convenient!) When you hear from the moving company, you’re told that shipping the piano can cost hundreds of dollars, almost $2,000, depending on how soon you want the piano delivered. The moving company pressures you to respond quickly to choose a shipping plan and then notifies you that payment can only be provided through digital wallet apps, a bank cash deposit, or a wire transfer. Furthermore, the moving company later shares that after further discussion with the seller, the new beneficiary of the piano (you) must settle the storage fee of the piano, which comes at an additional hefty fee.
If you proceed with the purchase, you’ll soon find out that the piano never existed, and you’ve just lost potentially hundreds or thousands of dollars to a scammer.
A consumer recently reported the following experience to BBB Scam Tracker: “We were contacted by a person named Jane…she wanted to give away her 2014 Sterling Baby Grand Piano because her husband was deceased, and he wanted it to be given to a family…the shipping company called [redacted]…tried to pressure us that it had to be paid today [and]…we had to pay via Venmo or CashApp.”
The victim then tried to email to ask more questions, but the “shipper” would only use email and would not provide a copy of the insurance – and then disappeared after being shown a link to another BBB Scam Tracker report! “They were trying to charge us $925 to transport…this price was the first red flag.”