WA’s leading organisation for the deaf is warning people to be aware of scammers preying on sympathy for the deaf.

It involves con artists, pretending to be deaf, soliciting the public for money by attempting to sell cards which have the alphabet in sign language printed on them.

The Sunday Times is aware of at least one woman who has been approaching people at WA offices and cafes, with an introductory card.

“Hello kind person. Sorry to trouble you,” the card reads.

“I am deaf since childhood. This is the voice of a group of deaf people. Our goal is to earn a living. Buy please this alphabet which costs $5. And many thanks to you and your family.”

Camera Icon An example of one of the cards.

Lauren Emmens said the woman handed her the cards at Gino’s in Fremantle last month.

“As I know a bit of sign language, I actually signed to her, ‘My name is Lauren’,” Ms Emmens said.

“I found it very strange when she didn’t sign anything back to me but just nodded.”

Ms Emmens said she and her friends gave the woman some money, before she left quickly.

“We all had a bit of a laugh afterwards thinking, ‘Did we just get scammed?’” she said.

Suzan Cammak said a woman matching the description attended her office in Bibra Lake earlier this month.

“She didn’t speak at all, just pointed,” Ms Cammak said.

“My colleagues gave her $10 for two cards. She just took the money and walked off.”

An Osborne Park retailer, who did not want to be named, said a woman approached him and two staff members this month.

“I suspected she was a fraud as she had no credentials,” the man said. “We were all busy with customers and she insisted on waiting until we were free and approached us separately, presenting us with those alphabet cards, essentially asking for $5.

“She didn’t speak to us and gave us the impression she was deaf.”

A woman, thought to be the same one, was also spotted asking for money at La Veen Coffee in Perth last month.

Access Plus WA Deaf chief executive David Gibson said the scam was common on the east coast.

“If the person is hearing and they are purporting to be deaf and trying to deceive people and take advantage of their goodwill, that’s really disgustingly low,” he said. “That is taking advantage of what is a communication barrier.”

Mr Gibson said it was also demeaning to deaf people for the woman to imply she couldn’t get a job because she is supposedly deaf.

“NASA has a rocket scientist whose responsibility is docking on the international space station who is deaf,” he said. “So deaf people can do anything.”

Mr Gibson said his organisation did not have charity collectors who solicited donations for the deaf community.

He said support systems such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the welfare system, eliminated the need for “begging”.

WA Police said the woman was not committing a crime.

“The people receiving cards have the right to return them and refuse to give her money,” a WA Police spokeswoman said.

Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard said people were entitled to approach others if the money they requested was for their own use.

“For example, social and sporting clubs and schools can raise funds for non-charitable purposes, meaning their own use, without requiring a charitable collection licence,” he said.