• You get the bad news first ... that you are in danger or trouble is on its way.
• Then the good news ... there is a solution, such as lottery numbers that are predestined to win, or a charm to ward off bad luck.
• Then the really bad news ... you are charged fees for psychic promises that are completely false.

Psychic and clairvoyant schemes can come through mail, email, telephone calls, television or press advertising or even face-to-face.

The scammer tries to gain credibility by claiming special knowledge that you are in trouble of some kind. Amazing ... except that most people do face problems in life, so there really is no psychic gift involved.

The scammer will call your problem a jinx or curse, but do not worry, they have the solution.

This can lead into a variety of other money-based scams, such as lottery scams.

It works like this. Imagine receiving a message from a psychic, saying you are in financial trouble, but do not worry, because financial good fortune will soon be coming your way.

Then you receive news that you have won a lottery. A special lottery that you didn't even have to enter.

That's a powerful scam. The psychic scam makes the lottery look more genuine, and the lottery scam makes the psychic scam look more genuine. In fact, neither is genuine: they are both empty letters sent out by the same scammer to the same addresses.

You should ignore them both.

However, a psychic scam is especially powerful because it plays on a natural human fear of the spiritual realm. If you do not accept the scammer's solution, the bad luck or curse may get even worse.

Take comfort in the fact that they say exactly the same thing to hundreds and even thousands of people. They know nothing about you personally and they have no power over you.

Variations:

Secret of Wealth Scams

The scammer offers to sell you a special insight that will bring you good fortune and money. That insight will be worthless, but expensive.

Lucky Charm Scams

Just like selling special knowledge, the scammer will offer to sell you a charmed talisman. Spiritually it is a worthless item. It will have no power except the scammer's own ability to take your money.

Stay Safe

Apply the same rules to this sort of scam that you should apply to others:

• Don't open junk email, or click on its contents. Just delete it.
• Never call a number contained in this sort of email or letter. You will end up talking with someone who is trained to separate you from your money. Plus, they will now know who you are and will flood you with calls until you give them money just to get them off your back.
• Never believe the claims made in a junk email or letter. Check the claims out with a person you trust to be wise.
• Never send your bank details, credit card numbers or personal details to any person or organisation unless you know you can trust them.
• Do not make an important financial decision without getting independent financial advice.

In addition, ask yourself important questions about how real a psychic promise is likely to be. What evidence do you really have that the person is genuine?

Don't be impressed if a psychic tells you something about yourself.

Ask yourself:

• Could what they say be true of anyone, not just me?
• Is what they are telling me vague or general?
• Did I mention this before, or give them a clue?

If you communicate with a psychic scammer in any way, they will take your words and use them as clues about your life, then come back to you with seemingly amazing foreknowledge about you.

Don't be intimidated or scared by claims you are cursed. It is natural to be fearful when you are told that, but look at your life and compare it with others. Are your problems really so unusual, or are they just the normal challenges of life?

If you definitely do want to use a psychic or clairvoyant's services, make sure you know in advance exactly how much you will have to pay. Be careful of any attempts to raise these costs or get more money out of you in any way. Remember that psychic scammers come up with new names all the time.

Interactive Scam Guides [external website]

For more information regarding psychic or clairvoyant's scams visit the Office of Fair Trading United Kingdom website. Their interactive scam guide gives an example of the tricks used by scammers when they send scam letters through the post.

When you hover over the text, pop up boxes will show the techniques used to make the letters seem believable. If you click the warning sign at the top of the page, you can see where all of the pop up boxes are located.

To see these examples you will need to have flash installed on your computer. If you don't have flash or prefer not to use flash check the link below to open a text only version in pdf format.

• clairvoyant's scam

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