Editing Psychic (section)

==Psychic fraud==
In an article reported by Pat Foran in [[CFTO-DT|CTV News-Toronto]], an Ontario woman, known as Marie Jean, depressed after having to sell her home, began seeing a psychic who went by the name of Maha Dev. Marie Jean reported that Dev claimed she was surrounded by "evil spirits" and that "(her) life could be in danger and (her) sons could lose their lives." The initial payment requested was $10,000 to remove the spirits, but in subsequent visits Dev indicated that the spirits were "too strong" and more money was needed.  In total, the woman paid $46,000 before deciding she had been "duped."  After Marie Jean reported the incident to CTV News, CTV News contacted the psychic.  While Dev did not admit to knowing the woman, the money was refunded in full the next day.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Foran |first1=Pat |title='I feel used': Ont. woman hands over nearly $50K to psychic who promised to cleanse her of evil spirits |url=https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/i-feel-used-ont-woman-hands-over-nearly-50k-to-psychic-who-promised-to-cleanse-her-of-evil-spirits-1.6935519?ICID=ref_fark |website=CTV News |date=20 June 2024 |access-date=29 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621183624/https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/i-feel-used-ont-woman-hands-over-nearly-50k-to-psychic-who-promised-to-cleanse-her-of-evil-spirits-1.6935519?ICID=ref_fark |archive-date=21 June 2024}}</ref>

Falling for a psychic scam can result in a loss of one's entire life savings. In an example given in an article by Rob Palmer<ref name="Harm">{{cite web |last1=Palmer |first1=Rob |title=Belief in Psychics: What's the Harm and Who's to Blame? |date=9 April 2019 |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/belief-in-psychics-whats-the-harm-and-whos-to-blame/ |publisher=Skeptical Inquirer |access-date=17 November 2022 |archive-date=17 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117235555/https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/belief-in-psychics-whats-the-harm-and-whos-to-blame/ |url-status=live }}</ref> a woman gave a psychic $41,642 over a period of 10 weeks. The woman had contacted Palmer for help, who put her in contact with [[Bob Nygaard]], a private investigator who specializes in psychic fraud cases. Palmer had previously written articles about Nygaard and the work he was doing.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Palmer |first1=Rob |title=Introducing Psychic-Busting Private Eye Bob Nygaard (Part 1) |date=15 August 2018 |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/introducing-psychic-busting-private-eye-bob-nygaard-part-1/ |publisher=Skeptical Inquirer |access-date=2022-11-18 |archive-date=2018-08-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823204858/https://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/introducing_psychic-busting_private_eye_bob_nygaard_part_1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Palmer |first1=Rob |title=Introducing Psychic-Busting Private Eye Bob Nygaard (Part 2) |date=22 August 2018 |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/introducing-psychic-busting-private-eye-bob-nygaard-part-2/ |publisher=Skeptical Inquirer |access-date=2022-11-18 |archive-date=2022-11-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118001059/https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/introducing-psychic-busting-private-eye-bob-nygaard-part-2/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

It is apparently difficult to get cases of psychic fraud prosecuted as a crime. Palmer states "when someone reports to law enforcement that they are a victim of this type of fraud, they are often turned away and told it is a civil matter." Palmer goes on to discuss [[Thomas John (medium)|Thomas John]] and other famous "psychics" who were proven to be frauds.<ref name="Harm"/> Investigator [[Ben Radford]] states that "scammers use various psychological principles to ensnare their prey". Their state of mind, belief in psychic abilities, unhappiness with something happening in their lives and looking for answers. The psychic will instruct the client not to tell their friends or family as they know they may be warned away from the psychic.

With curse removal, the psychic may say that the magic will not work or get worse if they do tell anyone about their involvement with the psychic. The con games from psychics, according to Radford, can "play out over the course of weeks, months, or even years." The psychic is playing the long game and looking to extract as much money as possible. Radford claims that when a victim realizes they have been scammed, often they are too embarrassed to come forward.<ref name="Radford 2017">{{cite journal |last1=Radford |first1=Ben |author-link=Ben Radford|title=Psychic Arrested in Exorcism Scam |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |date=2017 |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=12–13 |publisher=Committee for Skeptical Inquirer}}</ref>

[[Skeptical movement|Skeptical activist]] [[Susan Gerbic]] has summarized a number of techniques, which she says are used by psychics to create their effects.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gerbic|first1=Susan|author-link=Susan Gerbic|title=Ten Tricks of the Psychics I Bet You Didn't Know|url=https://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/ten_tricks_of_the_psychics_i_bet_you_didnrsquot_know|website=CSI|date=23 March 2018|publisher=Committee for Skeptical Inquiry|access-date=23 March 2018|archive-date=24 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324101552/https://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/ten_tricks_of_the_psychics_i_bet_you_didnrsquot_know|url-status=live}}</ref>