Yuba City donation request may have been hoax

Police are seeking the identity of a woman who solicited donations at the Yuba City Walmart on Sunday evening. The woman claimed to be affiliated with the youth organization Friday Night Live.

FNL Director and Founder Janet Siller received a call Wednesday from a victim of what appears to have been a hoax.

The person in question stopped patrons in the store and said she was seeking donations on behalf of Friday Night Live for something called the Northwest Athletic Walk for the Deaf, Siller said.

An organization listed in Tacoma, Wash., as the Northwest Athletic Association of the Deaf appears to have no such event scheduled.

Yuba City police spokeswoman Shawna Pavey said the woman soliciting funds in Walmart appeared to be deaf and was using what appeared to be sign language.

She was described as a white woman in her late 20s, about 5-feet-5-inches tall, with shoulder-length brunette hair, wearing a blouse and skirt and carrying a clipboard.

The victim who called Siller told the woman in the store she had no cash but would be willing to write a check for $10, which she did, according to Siller.

After having done so, she began to have second thoughts about the encounter.

She called Friday Night Live and asked if the cause was legitimate.

"We are not actively fundraising right now," Siller told her. "If we were, you would get a ticket to an event in exchange for that donation."

Pavey said she suspects identity theft may be involved and would not divulge the name the victim's check was made out to.

"We are trying to figure out who she is," said Pavey. "Anybody out there soliciting funds on behalf of a charity should be able to provide identification."