Grand piano purchase Reports & Reviews

Grand piano purchase Reports & Reviews (1)

- New Kensington, PA, USA

Scammer's website [email protected] (additional e-mail address used)
Scammer's address Eugene, OR, USA
Scammer's email [email protected]
Country United States
Victim Location PA 15068, USA
Total money lost $1,235
Type of a scam Online Purchase

Someone purportedly named Anna Maryanna sent an e-mail to a co-worker of mine saying that her husband died and that she wanted to donate his baby grand piano to a good home because she was moving (from Oregon to Virginia) and downsizing. The co-worker sent it to each church organist in our group of churches, and, since I am in need of a new/better grand piano, I decided to write to Anna Maryanna. For a while I did not hear back from her, so I thought that maybe she found another recipient. While I was going through my (Outlook) Junk Email folder, I found her messages. I do not know why they were in my junk messages but did not go to the junk messages of my co-worker. I wrote her back, explaining that her emails went to Junk and that I was still interested. She sent pictures and all the information about the piano, like size and weight. There was a time constraint because she was moving in a hurry. When I wrote back, she wanted me to get in touch with the movers for pricing. The name of the moving company was Lane Transit, which I later found out, is a public transportation company for Eugene, OR, but with a Prince Edward Island connection. I got in touch with them and they names three prices, one each for various speeds of shipping. I chose the slowest, for $785. I was given the choice of using Zelle or direct (wire) transfer. I chose Zelle. Zelle was smart enough to put the transaction on hold each time I attempted it. But I called and told Zelle (via my bank) that it was OK to make the payment. So I was happy to get a gently used grand piano for the cost of shipping it. Then another e-mail arrived from Lane stating that they needed $450 to pay a storage fee that had been incurred. This I did also. Lane had generated invoices and receipts. They had asked for a screen shot of the Zelle transaction, so I sent this each time. I also asked what it would cost to scrap my current baby grand piano, built in 1909 and in need of some work. They replied $250, but thankfully I dragged my feet on this and did not pay it. So far, I believed that all was OK until another e-mail arrived requiring insurance on the piano to be shipped. This would have cost $1200, which was 15% of the value of the piano. (Or maybe it was $1500 which was 12%.) By now I was very suspicious. I looked up Lane Transit online and found it to be a bus/trolley authority. Now I am getting e-mails from My Express Transit (with a Canadian connection and an Arizona customer service address) with tracking info which shows a delivery date of April 12, whereas the original delivery date was April 14. It is also showing Custom Holding (not Customs Holding) but I received no further e-mails from anyone.

Anna Maryanna had requested a picture of the interior of my house once the piano will have been in place. She requested my phone number, which I did not send, but which I had sent earlier in the thread, but "she" must not have noticed, or may have deleted.

So, as it stands, I have lost the money, contacted the Eugene, OR, police who told me to contact my local police first, which I did, and they want to see all the e-mails, have seemingly valid receipts, and a "piano" in holding somewhere, mentioning customs, yet Eugene, OR, and my house are both in the U.S. I am not going to send any more money. I am hoping that the police of both jurisdictions will be successful in stopping the scammers and helping me to get at least some of my money back.

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Grand piano purchase Reports & Reviews (1)

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