Beware of Fake Psychics
Frauds Use Cold Questioning, Psychic Trickery and Scams for Profit
Feb 8, 2009
Ads for psychic readings abound. One internationally known practitioner, according to her website, charges $850 for a reading. It’s alleged that her waiting list is over a year long, but, for $500, people can get one from her son. No information is given for the amount of time allotted. They offer a free cassette recording of the reading, but caution only one tape is given and it’s not guaranteed to be delivered or free of malfunctions.
“Psychic” Red Flags and Blaring Sirens, Beware!
Those who claim to or do the following:
- Be 100% accurate. None are.
- Offer testimonials of famous people. Clients’ names are confidential and released only with written permission.
- Be able to break “negative spells” they say were cast for an outrageous fee in addition to the one for the reading, a frequently used scam to make more money.
- Have the ability to pick lucky numbers. If they could, they’d be billionaires and not working as “psychics.”
- Be able to diagnose medical conditions. Not only is this against psychic ethics, but it's illegal to practice medicine without a license.
- Claim to be registered with or certified by organizations that don’t exist or if they do, appear to be self-proclaimed ones.
- Use “cold questioning.” This is a technique used by charlatans to elicit information in order to give a “reading.” They may say someone on the “other side” is trying to contact people. Charlatans try to elicit names by educated guesses. “Does the name James mean anything?” The name is a very popular one and odds are that the person knows someone by that name who died. Often, the querant will volunteer information such as, “Yes, my grandfather.” The “psychic” delves deeper, by repeating answers to elicit more information so they can make more educated guesses.
- Use common generalizations. “You are ready to make a decision.” People make decisions daily. Usually, there will be a pause after this to obtain information for the “reading,” another cold questioning ploy.
- Make errors, then covers them up by diversion. There is no decision to be made. “You made a big one in the past” or “I sense something new is happening to you.” The “psychic” twists it until it makes sense to the querant. If s/he admits either of these happened, the querant feels the original statement, although askew, was on target. Also cold questioning.
Psychic Networks with Telephone “Psychics”
Ads for these are on the Internet, television and in print. Perhaps the best known is Miss Cleo and her networks which spawned lawsuits and criminal charges, finally resulting in her and her affiliates being banned from operating, paying fines and civil damages.
Don’t respond to ads that offer free minutes. Miss Cleo et al used this ploy. When people called to use the free time, the “psychics” asked needless questions and did all they could to keep the caller on the line past the free minutes. Many callers had a nasty surprise when they received their telephone bills, which is what led to Miss Cleo’s and her affiliates’ downfall.
Don’t call telephone numbers with an 809 area code. While there are legitimate businesses in this Caribbean Island area code, many of the calls go to sites that charge, as 900 area code numbers do, outrageous fees, generally around $5.99/ minute.
Related articles:
How to Debunk Paranormal Hoaxes
How to Find Genuine Ghost Hunters
Sources:
FTC Charges "Miss Cleo" with Deceptive Advertising, Billing and Collection Practiceshttp://www.ftc.gov/opa/2002/02/accessresource.shtm
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