oboeinsight

I’m not the only one who had someone attempt to scam her this week. We all know they happen every day (I don’t even bother to read those ones that say I’m going to be receiving a ton of money from some poor person who is dying). But here’s another scam for those of you selling instruments. The person who sent this one to the IDRS was selling his instrument on eBay. I would like to think that no one would fall for this, but I’ve already heard of one person who lost her money because of the scam. Read it and beware:

Hello,
I saw your advert on the web and i am interested in your Rigoutat oboe
I am ready to pay $3200
I am based in uk but on a bussiness trip to west africa and i will be responsible for the shiping to my destination.
my mode of payment will be through money order,i will instruct my client in the usa to make out a money order of $5000 to you. which has an excess of $1800 , reason being that it is a refund payment, and the Customer issuing the check has the policy not to issue more than one check to a refund payment,which means that the check is going to carry the whole amount of what i am buying and also the shipping .the excess of $1800 will be for the shipping of the pet and my other goods in the usa.i want you to send the balance which is meant for the shipping to my shipper who i will instruct to contact you after i have received an e mail from you telling me you want to sell to me.
If my offer is okay kindly reply by giving me your full name and address to which payment will be made too and also photos so i can see what i really want to get,my email address is abby_lipss13@yahoo.com
regards

So seller beware!
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I am going to work today. I am going back to opera. Do you know what this means? Do you?!

It means I’m back! When I’m not playing in a group I feel as if a part of me went missing. I can handle a couple of weeks off just fine, but longer than that and I start to feel a bit hollow, as if the “oboist, Patricia Emerson Mitchell” has left he building or something.

I’m not saying teaching isn’t work, but it’s a different sort. I love it. It’s challenging (and sometimes tiring as well). I love seeing my students improve. Heck, I love watching them grow up too! (I’ve had some since they began and while seeing them mature makes me feel old it’s also great fun to see them moving to adulthood.) But teaching is work that doesn’t involve playing and conversing with colleagues, and it doesn’t include performing, and, mostly, just basking in music.

Funny how I’ll moan and groan when I have a lot of performances and I’m working lots of hours, often on difficult music, but I also complain when I’m not working. Go figure.
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I received this email yesterday:

GoodDay,

I will like to make an enquiry about your lesson and the cost per hour. Pls
let me know cos i have a son that will be coming on vacation at your state
and i will like him to enrol for the lesson pls get back to me asap.
Jim Willy.

I was guessing this was a scam. No mention of an oboe. A mention of “your state” but not naming it. And no questions about my qualifications or anything. But I went ahead and replied, asking some specific but simple questions and referring the sender to my website which lists what I charge and other important information.

Here’s the response:

Dear Patricia,
Thanks for the mail,I hope you will be able to give my son the best of knowlegde in the training cos we are far apart from each other, i based in London but he school in Canada but will be coming down to the state for a month vacation in the state so i will like to inform you that pending the time he will be in the state you will be taking him basis on 30 minutes for 3 days a week making 12 days for the month he will be staying for the vacation.Pls i want the best of knowlegde for him cos he is so dear to me and i really want him to be perfect in this lesson……Pls get back to me with the cost for whole 12 days and if there is any expenses that you will like to charge with it let me know so we can proceed on payment discussion cos i want this to be settle before his arrival.
Regards
Jim Willy

Uh-huh. Right. Not one answer to my questions.

So I wrote to the IDRS list and received a reply.

This is, indeed a scam. The person then sends a bogus check to me that is too large, and I’m supposed to send back the extra money.

Now I’m a very gullible person at times. FAR too gullible. But does the scammer really think I’d take a check that was too large, cash it, and, without waiting to make sure it was any good, send him some money? If he thinks that, he’s more stupid than I!

So if any of you readers receive this email as well, you might just ignore it. Or, heck, have fun with the guy. If you have enough time on your hands and don’t mind wasting it.
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