Are ‘Fake’ Musicians Scamming Colorado Shoppers? Police Think So
We've all seen street performers hanging out on the sidewalk in front of businesses playing for a couple of bucks, but have you ever thought that maybe this person was faking it?
It turns out that fake musicians may quite possibly be doing this exact thing; pretending to play a musical instrument for money outside of Colorado businesses as part of a bizarre scam that has been spotted numerous times across the state.
Are Fake Musicians Scamming You in Colorado?
Over the years, there have been stories of people pretending to be homeless or down on their luck in order to make money from business patrons while actual less-fortunate people who really do need a few extra bucks are left out.
According to police in Edgewater, Colorado, a town just west of Denver, this type of scam may have just reached another level with scammers pretending to be musicians.
The Edgewater Police Department released a statement warning shoppers of people pretending to be musicians down on their luck who appear to be playing the violin, but in fact, they aren't playing at all. Actually, police believe that the scammers are miming the violin motions while playing a violin track through a speaker.
Police have also said that when they tried to approach these alleged street performers, they stopped what they were doing and either began packing up their instruments or pretended to not speak English.
In addition to this happening in Edgewater, witnesses say that they have also seen cases just like this in Colorado Springs.
Helping out Coloradans that are down on their luck is an admirable thing to do, but this bizarre scam is, sadly, something to watch out for nowadays.
[KKTV]