'In Loving Memory of Hope': How the tables were turned on Kate by a scammer

Terminal cancer. Kind celebrities who reached out with love and support. A song sung as a dying wish. Nightline's year-long investigation about a sophisticated scam that preyed mostly on celebrities' emotions, not dollars, turned up none other than Kate Gosselin as a victim. Brad Paisley, John Henson, Natalie Grant, and others were also contacted by the scammer, who sometimes pretended a woman was ill and sometimes pretended a little girl was ill.

Kate spoke with Nightline via e-mail, and says she was reaching out in 2008 to a woman named Hope who said she was a cancer patient. She spoke to the woman on the phone for several months, and when she found out Hope had "died" she dedicated an episode of Jon and Kate to her (the episode 'Gosselins Go Skiing and the dedication to Hope at the end can be viewed on Youtube). Kate had no idea she was scammed until Nightline told her recently.

The savvier Natalie Grant, however, suspected something was off right away, but then felt guilty for questioning it. "I actually was mad at myself for even having those thoughts because I thought, 'Natalie, how could you be thinking this? This is a little girl who's on her deathbed, taking her final breaths, how could you even be questioning this?'" Other celebs also suspected something was wrong as the scam was going on, after talking to "Hope" on the phone or asking for details about her treatment.

To see the rest of this fascinating mystery and find out who was behind it all, read the full account here or catch Nightline late tonight (early this morning in some areas, check local listings.)