Piano scam by a woman posing as a bereaved widow fools Hush charity founder in Victoria
Cruel ‘grand piano’ plan robs a charity trying to do good work for hospital patients
- Scammers target hospital charities
- ‘Widow’ wanted to donate piano
- They wanted $800 ‘delivery fee’
Vicious scammers posing as widows have targeted a charity after promising to deliver a grand piano for a hospital, before demanding an upfront $800 “delivery fee.”
Professor Catherine Crock, chair of the Hush Foundation in Melbourne, Victoria, received an email earlier this year from a woman named ‘Veronica’ claiming she wanted to donate the piano.
The Hush Foundation brings music and art to Victorian hospitals and hoped to donate the instrument to a health center in Box Hill, in the east of the city.
The scammer claimed that her husband had passed away and that she wanted to donate his “beautiful” wing to charity.
Mrs. Crock told 3AW she was delighted with the offer and the staff began clearing a space in the foyer for the arrival of the instrument.
Professor Catherine Crock, chair of the Hush Foundation in Melbourne, Victoria, received an email earlier this year from a woman named ‘Veronica’ claiming she wanted to donate a grand piano (stock image)
The female con artist told Ms Crock (pictured) that her husband had died and she wanted to donate the piano to charity
The charity even organized a concert with a composer to come and play the piano at the hospital for patients and staff.
But when she tried to arrange the delivery, the scammer put her in touch with a man named ‘Fidel’ from a logistics company – who she was told had the piano in storage.
“So I’m starting to deal with them and we’ve had back and forth emails for months, this is a pretty elaborate scam where they keep you going until they try to charge you for the delivery,” Ms Crock said.
The scammers then demanded that the hospital pay an upfront delivery fee of $800.
After Mrs. Crock told them it was impossible to pay the money, the criminals said the hospital could pay half the amount.
But while she was trying to organize to pick up the piano herself, her son pointed out that the scammer’s email didn’t look real.
After a quick look on the internet, she discovered that the “piano scam” is rampant all over the world.
“I feel a little silly for not picking it up sooner, but I had googled the company they use the name of, and it exists and they move things around the world,” Ms Crock said.
Ms Crock said she was overwhelmed by the scam as her organization works hard to help patients by bringing music to hospitals
“These scammers are persistent because this has been going on for three months.”
Ms Crock said she was blindsided by the fraud as her organization works hard to help patients by bringing music to hospitals.
It has given pianos to facilities in Monash, Albury-Wodonga and a women’s mental health unit in an effort to reduce anxiety and stress for patients as well as visitors and staff.
After the professor’s story aired, a series of callers poured into the radio station to offer their pianos to charity.
One of the callers, Jenny, who had undergone many surgeries at Box Hill Hospital, offered her piano that had been in her family for years.
Ms Crock said the news of people donating their pianos made her feel good as they can play a big part in helping people in hospitals to cheer up.
A charity spokeswoman said the foundation was overwhelmed by the goodwill of listeners who tuned in to the story on Thursday.
“The community that, upon listening this morning, donates several pianos to us to distribute to hospitals. The friendliness of our community is outstanding,” she said.