The psychic lie of Instagram
I received a phone call a few days ago from a distraught woman who fell prey to a psychic con artist. My blood boils every time I hear about fake psychics inventing new ways to fool people. So here’s lesson number one: never let a psychic or medium choose you. You must choose to consult a medium or psychic.
Claire (not her real name) told me that she received an intriguing message from a “psychic” through her Instagram account. The fake intuitive sent Claire an email saying that she had seen Claire’s photo on Instagram and felt “such strong vibes” that she had to contact her.
The fraud claimed that she felt that Claire was surrounded by negative energy, and if she wanted to get rid of this negativity, she needed to buy “special” crystals for $ 200. The crystals, the “psychic” said, would help her determine what was wrong with Claire’s image. Claire ordered the crystals.
(Lesson number two: never buy anything to prepare for a professional reading. An honest psychic / medium will charge you for a session, and that’s it!)
During the next phone call, the embarrassing shaman told Claire that after examining her photo, he discovered that someone had cursed her because the person wanted Claire to be unhappy. However, if Claire bought “special” candles for $ 500, the psychic might begin to “try” to remove the curse. Unfortunately, Claire was afraid to believe that she needed help. He did not have the money available and charged the purchase to his Visa.
(Lesson three: never give your credit card information over the phone! Reputable workers use services like PayPal or insist that customers make wire transfers through a bank.)
The scammer told Claire that it would take a year to remove the curse and that she had to pay $ 250 a week to make sure the anti-curse continued to work. When Claire said she didn’t have the money, the phony said that he would help Claire by putting together a convenient payment plan.
In that moment, Claire became smart. She asked a friend who had visited psychic mediums in the past and she gave Claire my phone number. Claire screamed in tears and after hearing her story, I gritted my teeth so hard I could have bitten steel.
“I feel like I’m being ripped off,” Claire said. “But she talked to me on the phone for hours and treated me like a friend.”
Of course the con artist spoke kindly as a friend, I thought. This is how they get you to trust them.
Claire continued, “But I still haven’t given her money to proceed with my cure.”
“Claire, you don’t need a cure,” I told her. “This person you are talking to is not a doctor and you are not sick! No one can curse you; a ‘curse’ is nothing more than believing that something outside of you is emotionally and spiritually stronger than you. Tell me – do you believe that this supposed psychic is more powerful than you? “
After a moment’s hesitation, Claire said, “N-no …”
“Good girl.” Then I advised Claire to change her credit card number immediately.
We chatted a while longer and Claire seemed to feel better. After he hung up, I was saddened to realize that some people exist just to make others feel bad about themselves. I keep a small newspaper clipping next to my desk to remind me of this. It’s from the classifieds section, under “Astrologers / Psychics.” Here are some of the announcements:
“Mr. W- solves all problems quickly. Work, Love, Health, Depression, Enemies, Sexual Problem, Bad Luck. 100% Elimination of Black Magic.”
“The spiritualist Mr. K- solves problems related to love, court, business, family, money, the enemy. He deals with black magic 100%”.
Lesson Four, and probably the most important thing to remember, a reputable psychic or medium never promises to cure your problems. That’s your job. Life can often be tough, and we certainly face challenges. But we grow spiritually and emotionally when we learn self-empowerment and are able to reject those who say they can cure our ills for the price of crystals and candles.