How to Spot a Con Artist

Recently, I have had a lot of conversations with many clients about psychic scams artists. These are sometimes people who pick up a deck and just figure they can cheat people out of their money by pretending to be readers or they are real readers who have found that scamming people brings in more money than just doing regular readings (and have a broken moral compass). Unfortunately, these readers make the wonderful, helpful, caring readers look bad and perpetuate the public/Hollywood-driven negative view of them. Here are some ways you can tell that a reader might be a scam artist:  

1. Asking for extra money to clear curses, perform prayers, special candles or crystals: This is one of the most popular/oldest ways of scamming someone is for a con to tell the client that they have a curse, need a special crystal or candle to clear a curse or hex that has been put on them. Now depending on your beliefs and personal practices, this could be true, but 9/10 it is not. I had a client tell me the last reader she went to was great but at the end the reader told her she had some "very negative energy" around her and for an extra $200 dollars she would perform a special ceremony for her and give her a special crystal. This is pure crap. Those people probably bought the first candle they saw at Wal-Mart and now are trying to sell it to you. When you see an ethical reader, they will never have any surprise charges or expenses at the end. The price for the reading will be it. 

2. They leave you feeling bad and/or make you feel like you may be in eminent danger: Ethical readers live to make people feel better. That is our job. Even if your reading is less than favorable, we try to find solutions with you or help you to view your situation in a different light. When the client I mentioned above refused the con's special candle, the con artist said, "Well it's your life...". While this might sound harmless, it left the client feeling insecure and scared. No ethical reader would say something like that. 

3. The only way you can pay is through Western Union, Money Order or some other un-trackable way of payment (for distance readings): Readers who do distance readings online normally take online payments. Paying through Paypal, Stripe or some other kind of legitimate online payment system. If you are doing a reading over the internet and your told to mail a money order or Western Union, remember they are very hard to track and get back. Con artists will give all types of excuses for why they can't accept online payment, and I'm sure there are some exceptions to this rule, but I would think twice before giving my money to someone who only accepts these methods of payment, espeically if I have never met them.  

4. They try to make you dependent on them: They will insist you need to come back or get something cleared up that they definitely cannot do now. They might also do this with a sense of urgency in their tone. An ethical reader will not do this. We don't strive to make you feel like you can't live without us or that something bad will happen if you don't come back to us.

5. They say they have 100% accuracy- Nope. Nope. Nope. No one has 100% accuracy. The best readers will tell you that they are not always right.

In every profession their are people who absue their position, and the spiritual space is no different. A few ways you can combat this problem is by:

-Go to a reader you know
-Go to a reader that has been reccommeded by someone you know who had a good experience
-Check their website and see what kind of sense you get from them
-Call the reader before hand and ask questions. The reader will probably be very happy to oblige.


If you get a bad feeling from a reader, leave. It's ok. This is an experience you are paying for and you should feel comfortable. These people make life hard for the rest of the wonderful, ethical readers and should be stopped. If you encounter on of these psychic scam artists be sure to report them to your local police departement and the Better Business Bureau. 

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