Police Warn Public About Traveling, Violin-Playing Scam Artists

PINELLAS PARK, FL — It's a scene designed to melt your heart. A man stands in a parking lot playing a violin. Beside him is a large cardboard sign that reads: "Please help me. I have two kids. I need help to pay the rent and bills. God bless."

Don't be fooled, said Cpl. James Gatti of the Pinellas Park crime prevention bureau.

"I wanted to make everyone aware of a nationwide scam affecting us here in Pinellas Park," Gatti said. "Recently, myself along with members of the community policing unit have encountered individuals attempting this scam at many local shopping centers. Please be smart and safe with your hard-earned money."

Various versions of the same scam in shopping center parking lots have been reported to police throughout the South and along the East Coast including Tyler, Texas; Richmond, Texas; Barboursville, West Virginia; Nashville, Tennessee; Southern Pines, North Carolina; Falmouth, Massachusetts; Jacksonville; and Gaineville.

While street musicians playing for tips are nothing new, police believe these violin-playing, sob story-telling musicians are part of an organized group of buskers that have been running this scam for years, raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars.