Watch out for the grand piano scam
NewsMessage from the Neapolitan Connection concert series:
We were alerted about a free grand piano scam circulating on Facebook, and we just wanted to take a moment to inform pianists and musicians in general.
The advertised free piano photo is of a 2017 Yamaha GC1 grand. The actual piano photo appears to be taken directly from a Yamaha ad
currently in New Jersey, currently being sold for $12,995.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/124861442386
The Facebook advertiser basically states that their “uncle” is giving away his deceased father’s beloved grand piano to someone who will
cherish it. The “uncle”, a doctor, then places the party in contact with the following moving company:
Dependable Global Shipping https://www.dgs-worldwide.com/
The moving company unveils its scheme by asking the party to wire them the shipping fee. The fee seems like a small price to pay for a
beautiful free instrument, but of course, the grand piano never arrives.
Unfortunately one of our concert series subscribers recently fell victim to this scam. They were so disheartened that we felt obligated to let everyone know about it.
Please remember, whenever something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Why would you buy a piano without first playing it?! Especially someone running a concert series has to make sure it is an acceptable instrument for guest artists to play! The person running a concert series who fell for this should be removed from their position immediately as they can no longer be trusted to appropriate funds!
Maybe you need to dig out those reading glasses: the Neapolitan Connection clearly states that it was “one of our concert series subscribers” who fell for the scheme.
In this case, the domain registry info doesn’t look legitimate. The ‘Creation Date’ is 2021, the ‘Registrar’ looks suspect, and there isn’t any abuse contact information.
taken from https://www.godaddy.com/whois
WHOIS search results
Domain Name: DGS-WORLDWIDE.COM
Registry Domain ID: 2659798581_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.ownregistrar.com
Registrar URL: http://www.ownregistrar.com
Updated Date: 2021-12-06T16:20:49Z
Creation Date: 2021-12-06T16:20:49Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2022-12-06T16:20:49Z
Registrar: OwnRegistrar, Inc.
Registrar IANA ID: 1250
Registrar Abuse Contact Email:
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone:
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Name Server: NSA.WHOGOHOST.COM
Name Server: NSB.WHOGOHOST.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned
The minimum one year registration is a good indication of a scam website. The scammer doesn’t expect it to last for long. It’s now been suspended.
Very sad. NL’s final comment is a universal truth.
Out of curiosity, I tried accessing the so-called shipping company’s website, and got a “Don’t go there” warning from one of the protection devices I have in place.
The fake company name seems to be trying to cash in on an apparently legitimate company name Dependable Global Express.
One factor which enables scams like this to prevail is the shame the victims have about fessing up. I was once similarly (and stupidly) scammed, although mercifully I was able to prevent financial damage. I rather hope that my admission of stupidity on social media may have spared others.
Kudos to the concert series affiliate for making this known to NL.
Every word NL utters is a universal truth (I know ‘cos he told me so), but that final line belongs to the writer at Neapolitan Connection. Credit where it’s due and all that.
LOL! Thank you. I stand corrected.
I’m ashamed to admit that I almost fell for this scheme in Canada. Luckily, I came to my senses and decided to google if this is a regular scheme and turns out, it is. Never sent money and just told them the shipping was too much for me.
I saw the same scam on Facebook marketplace advertising a free Steinway. It was the same story about the uncle and that the instrument was in storage. When I tried to phone them, they said I should only text, then they later tried to explain that he had a vocal impediment and could not talk, only text. That was clearly a red flag along with the fact that they were asking me to send money to get the instrument out of storage.
This scam has been running in Australia on Facebook Marketplace for at least six months. The story varies, disgruntled wife getting rid of husband’s piano, widower giving away dead wife’s beloved piano to a ‘music lover’, etc. The photo varies, but often taken from people’s FB pages, from real estate ads.
I almost fell for that in a Facebook marketplace AD. Whew! The bank suggested it may be a fraudulent scheme so I did not do it. Then I read this. Thanks for the information.
I’m giving away a famous bridge in London, unfortunately, my friends sisters brother, best mates cousins uncles neighbours hairdressers sisters boyfriends dog walkers brothers workmates grandfather’s penpals dog has died so would like the bridge to go to a good home, someone who will cherish it and walk across it everyday. If you just send me one and a half million pounds, for transport fees I will organise down hill logistics to deliver it next Tuesday, if you aren’t going to be in you can nominate a safe place to leave it or rearrange delivery on weconanybody.mail
In 1968, London Bridge was sold to an American city in Arizona, to which the bridge was shipped stone by stone (at great expense):
https://www.havasuchamber.com/london-bridge-history.html
The piano pictured is not a “grand piano”.
It is what is known as a “baby grand” (a short piano with a standard action, meant to fit into a smaller space) and Yamaha actually refers to it as such on their website.
The length of the GC1 model (161 cm) is nearly the same as its width (149 cm).
Norman is obviously not a pianist.
A Baby Grand is a Grand Piano (the grand bit refers to the frame and action being horizontal). What you are thinking of as a Grand Piano is either a Boudoir Grand, or a Concert Grand.
Dominic, I may not be the most well informed musician around (let the thumbs-down comments come!), but I have never heard the term “boudoir grand”. I would be interested to learn where you encountered this term.
A “baby grand” piano is NOT a grand piano, concert or otherwise – it is a pianino. “The frame and action being horizontal” is irrelevant, or else we would be calling the Silbermann instruments of Bach’s day “grand pianos”.
When the width of a piano equals or nearly equals its length, it is not a grand, in my estimation and that of many others. It is a baby grand or a pianino.
You may be unaware that the square cm area of the soundboard in a pianino like this – in other words, its sound producing capability – is much less than that of a full-size studio upright.
We piano teachers have been receiving emails like this for several years. If you bite, somehow there is money involved, for transit or whatever…
I just received this from scammer. I’m a musician. I didn’t realize it was a scam at first, till I reread the initial message and noticed some grammar mistakes. A quick Google search, confirmed the scam (thanks everyone!) I wrote them back saying ’f@-ck off’
I work for a small shipping company in Georgia. Over the past couple of months, we’ve received 3 calls from people asking when their piano will be delivered. They too responded to an online ad about a free piano and were were placed in contact with FSL Freight Group based in Atlanta, GA to pay for shipping: https://fslfreightgroup.com/about-us.html#
Our company’s name is The FSL Group (www.fslgroup.com) and that’s probably why these victims are reaching out to us – company names sound similar. We’ve never shipped a piano in the 20+ years we’ve been in business.
Seems like these people who are scamming people online use several fake shipping websites. Hope this article/post brings awareness. Thank you for posting about it!
I just received one of these from a Chelsea Kunapuli . Beware!
l just send email to then!
Thanks for sharing. I’m a piano tuner and is currently communicating with a man who is giving his late wife’s piano away to a “passionate music lover.” His flow of writing was kind of generic It has to be shipped half the country away. I figured I’d google search which led me here..
Especially after seeing Yamaha GC1, I’m sadly extremely skeptical.
I’ll look more into it but I’d like to report them somehow.
this has just landed in our email in box.What is concerning is we were actually looking to buy or rent a baby grand for a charity concert event raising funds for war refugees, I nearly bit until they responded with the storage/delivery aspect. Now this is either an odd coincidence or they knew this and targeted us. I sent my customary cordial email telling them to self fornicate and use a tourniquet tightly around their neck for best affect.
I was a victim of piano scam .. I am a teacher and i got the email about a widower downsizing late husbands grand piano and introduced me to a moving company , which i paid $800 and got nothing for months after the delivery date passed .. i told my lawyer and he told me to contact affliz at tutanota dot com .. They were so helpful…
Got two identical emails over the last two days. This time the dude is downsizing from an apartment and wants a good home for the piano. Didn’t realize it was a scam at first so replied that I had no need for it but perhaps a local church or school might like it. Got wise when the same message arrived and sent it straight to the scam file.
I work in the office of the Episcopal Church in Frankfurt, Germany. Fortunately, the fact that shipping had to be paid in advance made us stop, take a breath, and start asking questions. They sent me a photo of the instrument in a Yamaha shipping carton, on a pallet. But, the “donor” said it was 3 years old. So, when I left the office today, I drove nearly an hour to where the storage/shipping company’s “website” said they were located. But, there was no sign or mailbox with “C4 Logistic” on it. I phoned the number on the website, and the guy said they are located in Coventry, in the UK, and that they have no facilities in Germany. But, it was a local phone number. And the website said they are a global company. Hmmmm…..
It’s important to note that if you get taken in by this type of scam, your bank will be useless in rectifying it. I got scammed by something similar (not the purchase price of a piano but the cost to “move” it from storage), and afterward opened a fraud claim with my bank. After a lot of run around, the bank closed the claim and refused to refund the money OR go after the scammer, although they admitted that they knew the scammer was an account holder at the same bank. Zero effort is made to hold the scammers accountable, even when banks know who they are.
this is still doing the rounds, I’ve just had the same email re a donated GC1 Yamaha, current “movers” as at March 2024 are premiercourier-services.online
and the email address provided links to their dodgy website. Two emails provided Support@premiercourier-services.online and the person with deceased husband is Sophiaethan136@gmail.com which appears to be a genuine gmail account…. reported scam email and website to everyone I can think of…