Violin Buskers: Potential Scam Makes Residents Wary Of Parking Lot Musicians
Buskers, or musicians who play in public for voluntary donations, have long been one of the simple pleasures of frequenting public areas in some towns, especially shopping centers. Not many people will object to the melodious sound of a violin while walking to their car in the Walmart parking lot, and in a post-pandemic world, donors seem to have grown even more generous when it comes to helping a musician whose handmade sign explains they have recently fallen down on their luck and are trying to scrape by.
But on the Upper Cape, some consider these violin-playing buskers to be an elaborate scam.
A recent post on a Falmouth Facebook page sparked the discussion: who was this violin-playing person, or people? The user said that she had been listening to the music and was extremely moved and was hoping to find the woman she had seen. Nearly 300 comments later, and the public consensus seems to be that these empathy-inducing buskers are actually just keen scam artists, playing recorded music over a speaker while miming the movements of a real violinist.
This particular type of busker or scam is not new. It has been spotted across the country in years past—even with multiple sightings of a few different violinists in Falmouth—but a recent uptick in appearances at local stores has gotten residents talking.
“When I first heard her playing outside of TJMaxx a couple of weeks ago, my first thought was ‘is she part of that scammer family from over the summer?’” said one user. Many others shared this speculation, referencing a recurring incident of a group of people who were believed to have been begging for money under false pretenses of being homeless and in need. Additionally, people spoke up saying they have spotted these violinists at stores all over the Cape and South Shore, with some even referencing incidents as far north as New Hampshire.
These violin buskers tend to follow a similar pattern: they take up camp outside of a relatively busy store and “play” their music for passersby, often accompanied by a sign with some variation of a sympathy-inducing call to action, such as “help me feed my family,” or “help pay my rent.” The music is almost always amplified over an electronic speaker. The catch is that this speaker is actually hooked up to a backing track, not the violin; therefore the music being amplified is actually prerecorded and is often not the work of the person collecting the money. Diligent onlookers have also noted cases in which the player’s bow movements do not match the music being played. In some instances across the country, onlookers have directly asked these violinists asked about their playing—like requesting to hear the musician play a scale as a test of their legitimacy—but have been met with confusion from the musician, usually followed by them saying they are tired before packing up and leaving the scene without giving any real answer.
While this activity is not explicitly illegal, it has garnered a lot of attention online. The discourse on Facebook, which took place under a post on Fabulous Falmouth from the morning of November 1, is a mixed bag of emotions. Some who have donated say they feel as though they have been duped, while others take a more empathetic stance.
“I don’t care if it’s a scam or not,” wrote one user. “The young man in front of Walmart was amazing. Even if it’s recorded music, it was beautiful to hear after the stress of last week!”
Another user shared a similar sentiment, adding that although he was wary that it might be a scam, the music seemed to brighten his daughter’s day regardless. He called it a “lesson in the difference of opinion.”
Various Enterprise employees reported having encountered at least one of these buskers in recent weeks, with accounts placing them everywhere from Walmart in Falmouth to Roche Brothers in Mashpee and beyond.
Online reports from across the nation paint the picture of this being a nationwide scheme that authorities have yet to crack down on.
The Falmouth Police Department has not received any complaints.