According to USA Today, while only about 22% of American adults have consulted a professional psychic, clairvoyant, or medium, one in every three reports they have had some sort of psychic experience.
Many Americans seek psychic guidance with the help of a psychic or medium through scrying, tarot, channeling, or other form or supernatural communication or fortune telling. Law enforcement agencies even work with psychics. Whether you believe in any of it or not, while some psychics offer helpful guidance for an uncertain future, others are just out to take your money.
As in other imposter scams, phishing scams, and the like, the con artists gathers as much information about the victim as possible, plays on their fears, and incites a sense of urgency to react without thinking things through.
Psychics that aren’t all they say they’re cracked up to be will ask victims leading questions that will lead you to give answers. Asking, “Who is the tall older man?” or, “Who has cancer?” are examples of these leading questions broad enough to catch something but specific enough to catch the victim’s attention and emotion. They will also make general statements like, “You have an important decision to make,” or “A loved one has passed away,” or make vague and favorable predictions about the victim’s love life.
Today, there are two main types of common psychic scams beyond your run-of-the-mill fraud.
The first type is curse removal. The victim is typically a regular client of a con artist posing as a psychic that has divulged a lot of information about their life and the struggles they face. The con artist tells them in a session that there is a curse upon them – either individually or a family curse. They will explain where the curse came from and how it is the answer, the cause of all of the recurring problems in their life. When the curse is removed, everything will go right for a change.
How much does curse removal cost? It’s pricey business. Removing a curse often costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. As in other scams, the con artist will ask for the money to be wired.
Psychics who try to scare you into coming back or paying more to get a clearer view of what’s ahead are not to be trusted. They are trying to get you into a panic so you make decisions NOW without thinking them through.
The second common type of psychic scam is the spell-casting scam. In this scam, the fraud psychic finds out as much as they can about the victim’s life and the characters in it, much like the curse removal scam. In this scam, the psychic offers to cast a spell on someone to alter their behavior in a way that will benefit the victim. Again, this service comes at a high price.
Both of the main types of curses are up-sells. That’s when someone tries to sell you more than you came for. The first type says you need to purchase a more advanced service to lift a curse that has been holding you back, the second offers a service add-on.
Any psychic that seems to be asking too many questions – and getting too many answers wrong – should not be trusted. Con artists will also hone in on those who look vulnerable out in public and approach them with a message from beyond the veil.
Unlike many other common scams, the populations that appear to be most vulnerable to psychic scams are young and middle-aged women. If you suspect a psychic scam, speak up about it. Tell your friends and family. A private investigation can help you put together the evidence you need in case you want to file a civil suit or alert authorities. These are special cases because of the intangible nature of psychic service, which make them more difficult to address, but other victims, a money trail, and evidence of theft and fraud are even more compelling than a message from beyond the grave.
