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Woman targeted by scammers gets to meet Bishop T.D. Jakes

Posted at 7:58 PM, Jun 06, 2014
and last updated 2014-06-07 07:12:05-04

Hampton, Va. - Among the throngs of people who came to see mega Pastor T.D. Jakes in Hampton was the woman who took action to warn others about the scam artist using Jakes’ likeness to take her money.

We met Claudette Woodley in April.

She said a man claiming to be Bishop Jakes on Facebook promised her thousands to replace her furnace.

“I felt so good because it said Bishop James invited me as a friend! And that's when I told him, I said 'I love you,'” says Woodley.

The catch: She needed to wire money to some place in Africa.

She was about to do it until a clerk at the Walmart Emporia stopped her.

Woodley reached out to us to stop others from actually going through with it.

“That man is going to prey on a whole lot of older people, and see that's what hurt me so bad,” said an emotional Woodley.

NewsChannel 3 knew one way to help turn the hurt into some good news.

We worked with Hampton University to get her and her granddaughter front row seats to her favorite mega pastor!

She also had the chance to meet the bishop in person.

“It was super.  I never dreamed the day would come where I would meet him in person.  He still looks the same way he do on TV,” says Woodley.

Related: 

Scam artist uses T.D. Jakes to trick Emporia woman

Walmart worker takes action to stop scam