Tarot Readings by John

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Protect Yourself Against Psychic Con Artists!

Hello everyone...

Recently, there's been a sharp increase of people being scammed by "con psychics" in my area, so I thought it was a good idea to share this information with everyone. A special thanks to the American Tarot Association for allowing me to use it on my own sites; I am reprinting it with their permission, since I am not the original author.

Unfortunately, many of these phony psychics will do or say anything to get your money. So I've put some information below about how to avoid falling prey to a phony psychic, palm reader, or tarot reader.

 Psychic and tarot fraud can occur in many ways: through television and telephone services, through newspaper and magazine ads, through the internet, and in person by skilled fraud artists. 

 Although psychic and tarot fraud is not a major method for ripping people off (credit and debt repair schemes are the most common and expensive scams these days), it is a disturbing and shameful practice for those who are committed to providing honest and ethical consulting services in this field, and the association of fraud with psychics, tarotists, astrologers and other metaphysical practitioners taints the entire field. 

 The greatest preventative for this form of fraud is consumer education. Consumers should be aware of the techniques and methods used by scammers: 

 “Cold Reading” is one of the most common techniques used by psychic frauds. The scammer approaches the client with great confidence, making direct statements that are actually clever shots in the dark. The client’s face or body language is carefully watched to see when a “hit” is made. Then the scammer probes and gleans information about the person’s background and personal history that are used to weave pronouncements supposedly inspired by “spirits” to draw the client into a scam. 

 Some of the more common schemes include: 

The Curse Scam: there are a number of ways this can be applied, but generally the scammer insists that the client is cursed (in love, money, health) and uses cunning tactics (including cold reading) to draw out information about bad luck or losses that are used to reinforce the curse claim. Then they claim to have the power to remove the curse, which of course comes with a high fee, or they draw the victim into a long, drawn out series of curse-removing rituals that involve things like $300 candles or $1000 prayers. 

 The Money Cleansing Scam involves a psychic telling the client that s/he’s inherited “evil” money that must be cleansed, sometimes by being buried in a church yard. It goes from the victim’s bank account into the scammer’s pockets. 

 Online Psychic/Tarot Reading Fraud is an easy fraud to perpetrate because it’s tough to tell if a scam has actually happened. The reading is purchased through the site and sent via e-mail. The scam is that every customer gets the same reading. 

 The Illness or Death Scam: the victim is scared into paying money by threats of illness or death curses on relatives. 

 Anti-curse rituals extend the contact between the scammer and the client. A common ritual technique involves eggs or tomatoes that are kept by the client and swapped for an egg or tomato filled with some obnoxious substance by the scammer during a ritual. When the swapped egg is opened and the blood or black muck runs out, of course the client is terrified that it’s proof of a curse. This is a clever sleight-of-hand trick that’s worked for centuries. 

 Tips for Consumers 

 The most powerful thing a client can do is: Ask for permission to tape-record the reading. Ethical readers may actually offer a tape as part of the session fee; a scammer will do anything to avoid documentation. 

· Get word-of-mouth recommendations about readers. Ask about the reader’s style and accuracy, and the general impression a friend had of his/her reading. 

· If interested in getting a reading, deal with locals whose reputations can be confirmed by friends and associates, not from faceless internet sites or telephone psychics. While some telephone services are legitimate, if you’re not sure and can’t confirm, avoid them. 

· Never, ever give a psychic your social security number, credit card or other private personal information like bank account numbers, PIN numbers, etc. No ethical practitioner would ever ask for such a thing. Any reader asking for personal financial information is up to no good.

· Don’t give money for rituals, candles, or other curse-removing or demon-expelling rituals.

· Watch for readers who ask lots of questions, or who seem to be taking stabs in the dark trying to capture your attention and claim that “the spirits” are telling him/her all about you (cold reading). 

· Walk away from anyone who tries to use fear, intimidation, disempowerment, uncertainty, doubt to get you to pay high fees for dubious services. 

· Ethical readers have no hidden costs and no surprises; they ad-here to a flat rate fee per reading or per hour. Avoid readers who advertise $5 readings and then try to sell you a $100 candle. 

·  Be wary of readers who claim to have supernatural powers, who claim to be the descendant of a long line of famous psychics, or who engage in over-the-top showmanship calculated to overwhelm the client. This may include claiming lofty titles, accreditations or degrees (which can be ordered through various Bazooka Joe sites and PO boxes). Ethical readers do not leverage superstition, and attempt to educate and inform clients rather than gain power over them. 

· Ethical readers limit the frequency of client visits to avoid creating unhealthy dependencies. 

· Ethical readers have no need to wear costumes or swathe offices or reading rooms in post-apocalyptic gypsy woo-woo Madame Lazonga décor with bad lighting. 

· Beware of exceptionally high prices. Although some readers do charge high prices because of extensive education and expertise, scammers can and do charge big bucks for readings. 

· Expect the reader to speak to you in plain English, not in fluff-speak. If you don’t understand, ask for clarification. If the reader can’t clarify the thought to a point where you can understand it, head for the door. 

· Being skeptical is okay, especially if the reader says anything like “You are under a curse” or “if you don’t let me do this ritual, you’ll die in the next three months.” Head for the door, slam it on your way out, and call the cops immediately. 

 

Consumer Protection Agencies 

It’s unfortunate but once the money is gone, it is usually impossible to get it back. These consumer protection groups, law enforcement and government agencies can be contacted if a psychic or tarot scam is suspected or is being enacted: 

 CFR: Consumer Fraud Reporting. This is not a government agency but a clearinghouse of information for consumers. (www.consumerfraudreporting.org). This site offers a means to report fraud and lists of contact information, links, phone numbers and guidance to help you report the scam to the proper authorities, and to try to recover your loss. The list includes state and local consumer protection agencies that can be contacted. 

 Local police. Ask if there is an officer (or department) who has experience with frauds and scams. 

 State Government. Your state’s Attorney General’s Office is listed in the phone book’s blue pages under the state government section. The AG is responsible for consumer protection. If you wish to file a claim with a case manager, be prepared with any and all paperwork that may be relevant to your case. 

 FTC: Federal Trade Commission. The FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC’s mandate is to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics (although tarot fraud is not on this list), call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov/. 

 The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database used by hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. 

 Fraud Laws 

Existing fraud laws apply in all cases fraud; there’s no need for communities and municipalities to create specific laws against fortune-telling. In most cases, these laws are over-turned as unconstitutional because they contravene the Right to Free Speech clause in the Bill of Rights. 

 It’s the responsibility of law-enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges to apply existing laws knowledgably and appropriately. The laws listed below are the ones that apply when incidents of psychic fraud occur: 

 COMMON-LAW FRAUD requires proof of 1) a false representation, usually of fact, 2) "scienter" -- the speaker's knowledge that the fact is false, 3) the speaker's intent that the victim rely on the false representation, 4) the victim's reliance on the false representation, and 5) damage to the victim as a result of the reliance. Common-law fraud usually must be proven by "clear and convincing evidence", which is a slightly higher standard of proof than the normal civil standard of a "preponderance" of the evidence. 

STATUTORY FRAUD UNDER THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ACT (FTC) becomes "deception." Contrary to common-law fraud, "deception" does not require a showing of intent, scienter, actual reliance, or damage, and even actual deceptions are unnecessary. A deception may be established by proof that the practice has a tendency of capacity to deceive even a significant minority of consumers. The standard of proof is the lower "preponderance" standard. 

 STATUTORY FRAUD UNDER STATE UNIFORM DECEPTIVE ACTS AND PRACTICES LAWS (UDAP) is also classified as deception, which is generally defined as in the FTC Act. Deception can be found where there is no breach of contract or warranty, and even where there is no negligence. The essence of deception is not evil intent, negligent behavior, or even breach of agreement, but simply being misled by a seller's statement of actions. 

 You can contact a local prosecutor, an attorney, or even your state’s Attorney General’s office to find out the specific state code (UDAP) on fraud. Documentation is the best way to ensure successful prosecution under a Common Law Fraud case. It may be necessary to provide paperwork, recordings, photographs, calendar entries of appointments, and all material that may be relevant to help local law-enforcement and prosecutors do their jobs.

 This is NOT an advertisement for my services; there are many good psychics out there, so if you choose to have a reading, do so safely and report any scammers! They give the rest of us a bad name!

 Thanks and blessings to all of you!