Deaf Westerville woman charged with scamming the deaf
Elaine Katz, a deaf woman in Westerville, received an email saying she had won the Deaf Awareness Lottery, and she had to send money to collect the rest of the winnings. Turns out, there was no such thing, and she never got her money back. But the man behind the scheme, so-called “Jimmy Kelly” contacted her, and asked her to begin soliciting the same deal to others in the deaf community and she could make $3 million. With hopes to regain her lost money, she then began contacting other deaf people (1,200 nationwide), who trusted her because she communicated via sign language and because she was part of the community, according to police. Katz was charged with theft from an elderly person. Police have said though that the main goal of their investigation was not to arrest Katz, but to stop the scheme at large, the Dispatch reported.
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