Who Would Scam an Oboe Teacher?

Apparently someone named William Clark, or someone who uses the name William Clark and whose email address is: wclark200@yahoo.com.

 Last week Neil mentioned to me that he had received an unusual request from "William Clark," for oboe lessons for his 13 year old daughter, Mary. He stated that they were out of the country, but would soon be coming to the United States. Mr. Clark failed to answer any of Neil's usual questions for new students, such as how long Mary had been playing, inquires about her instrument, and whether they would be taking lessons at USM or Dartmouth - the locations of his two teaching studios. Neil usually asks if the child has, in addition to playing oboe, any other tendencies toward self-injurious behavior. Silent on all of these matters. 

 Then Mr. Clark wanted to pay for several weeks of lessons upfront. Neil had never encountered this before, but why would a free-lance musician say no to a parent wanting to pay for lessons in advance? Then Neil learned about Mr. Clark being a widower and something about the involvement of a financier and a cousin who would be traveling to the country with Mary with payment for more than the amount of the lessons....and then the kicker...and would Neil mind just paying the difference between the amount of the check and the cost of the lessons...and give this to his "cousin?"


Beware oboe teachers far and wide: sound like we have a modern day Music Man on our hands, with the roles reversed. 

Comments

  1. Kathy in MDJuly 20, 2013 at 4:29 PM

    Glad Neil did not fall for it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 4, 2013 at 2:04 AM

    I got this request too, although I got suspicious when he wouldn't specify what kind of lessons. I teach recorder, flute, and Latin. Glad you blogged about this!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 16, 2013 at 12:30 PM

    I also got this request, but I teach tuba and euphonium. Thanks for blogging!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousOctober 10, 2013 at 1:24 PM

    My wife's German professor just got the same in California and referred her for German lessons. Just a cousin and no finacier mentioned Looked up the name and found your blog. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousOctober 10, 2013 at 1:29 PM

    I just got this too. Watch out! They are getting smarter, as they specifically asked for lessons on my instrument and had answers to the standard questions. Aside from the bad grammar and exact money order scheme (which was really smoothly written and didn't come until email 6; I almost didn't catch it), I was lucky enough to be an airplane geek, pick up some fishy things he said about his airline career, and put all of the pieces together, They are getting good at this one!

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousOctober 28, 2013 at 5:47 PM

    THANK YOU! I got the exact same request, maybe coming to me because my email address contains 'oboe' in it, but oddly, he was asking for piano lessons which I also teach.

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownNovember 3, 2013 at 8:25 PM

    Thank you. I knew there was something very "fishy" about this. Same names, but they're getting a bit smarter about it. Thanks for the blog to warn me. I am a trumpet teacher.

    ReplyDelete
  8. EmilyFebruary 16, 2014 at 8:03 AM

    When I wrote this, it was for my own amusement. I had no idea it might help others -- glad that it has!

    ReplyDelete

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