Psychic Scams Are on the Rise Take on Today

Psychic Scams Are on the Rise

AARP' s Fraud Watch Network US Postal Inspection Service talk about the recent uptick

Getty Images/AARP

Billboard Mike Ellison: These days, it’s hard to know what the future holds. And people are searching for answers. Today we’ll learn all about psychic scams and how to keep financial ruin out of your future. That’s coming up next. Hi, I’m Mike Ellison with An AARP Take on Today. A Segment Mike Ellison: It’s the Halloween season, which means people are carving pumpkins, decorating their houses with skeletons and celebrating all things spooky. But there’s another frightening thing lurking around the corner, and it’s taking millions of dollars away from people. Mike Ellison: That’s AARP’s Amy Nofziger (NAWF-zig-er -- rhymes with “scoff Tigger”). The Fraud Watch Network helpline she mentioned is a free resource that anyone can use. If you want to report fraud, get tips on how to avoid scams or receive emotional support from peers who have also experienced fraud, you can call their toll free number: 877-908-3360. Mike Ellison: Amy and the Fraud Watch Network team receive calls from people of all ages who have lost thousands of dollars to these sorts of scams. Mike Ellison: So how do people find these psychics to begin with? For many, it starts with a solicitation through the mail from the scammer. < Clayton Gerber: A psychic mail order scam is not significantly different in its approach to a storefront psychic. You have an initial pitch in the mail from, theoretically, some world-renowned psychic> Mike Ellison: That’s Clayton Gerber from the US Postal Inspection Service. The USPIS is the law enforcement arm of the postal services. He leads a team focusing on mail fraud against seniors. Mike Ellison: And at the end of the letter, without fail, the sender asks for payment. They might ask you to pay for their psychic services, or they might try to sell you an object that promises good fortune. We’ve learned over and over that fraudsters take advantage of people who are down on their luck. AARP’s Kathy Stokes explained it best. Mike Ellison: That was back in April, by the way, episode eighty-eight of this podcast -- just a few weeks after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. Scammers’ tactics have hardly changed. Mike Ellison: So how much money do these fraudsters make? With a large enough operation, they can make millions. Mike Ellison: Unfortunately, the victims of these scams usually don’t get their money back. Authorities have a hard enough time finding the source of the scheme, much less tracking where the money went. Some people don’t realize that they’ve been a part of a scam operation. Clayton Gerber: We communicate with victims of these schemes all the time. They often don't believe us when we tell them that it's a fraudulent scheme. But assuming that you come around to this realization, or you run out of money and you can't keep paying any money in response to these teams, you are not getting your money back. Clayton Gerber: The fraudsters spend this money as fast as they get it in. There is no pot of money sitting there to reimburse you. There is no effective form of restitution. These are high volume, very small dollar losses that get co-mingled with millions of others who are sending in money for these types of schemes. And it is virtually impossible for law enforcement, for the Justice Department, for victim services groups, to try to decipher who's $20 is who's to try to get that back to you. And in reality, if we're lucky, we seize one penny on the dollar based on the amount of money that is lost. Amy Nofziger: I always recommend people to file a police report, regardless if they think they're going to get their money back or not. There are a lot of law enforcement agencies who will actually look into these scams as theft by deception. However, oftentimes you will not get your money back because some of the stories that we've heard from people attempting to retrieve their funds is that the psychic, as the professional role, did provide the services, they just didn't get the result that they wanted. And they'll say, "Well, I tried to remove the curse, but I can't." And so it's oftentimes very difficult. But with these scams, we always recommend people to report it and report it to law enforcement, if nothing else just so they know it's happening in their community. Mike Ellison: After the break, we’ll hear about some other tactics fraudsters are using these days, and what you can do about it. B Segment Mike Ellison: While psychic scams are common, they’re not the only mail order schemes circulating right now. Clayton Gerber: I think the biggest increase in COVID-19 related scams that we have seen were failure to deliver schemes. When this first started, everyone wanted something to protect themselves; they wanted a mask, they wanted hand sanitizer, they wanted antibacterial wipes, they wanted these things. And the number of fraudulent vendors who cropped up to offer these for sale and would take your payment, knowing full well that they had none of these in stock and had no ability to deliver them and never intended to deliver them, those scams have skyrocketed. We call those a failure to deliver scheme. Clayton Gerber: Failure to deliver schemes are not unusual. They occur all the time. The problem is they're normally not getting sales in huge volumes because there isn't some impetus to cause a tremendous amount of traffic to any one particular website or any one particular catalog sales. But the pandemic did that. It was very acute and we saw an extraordinary increase in those and people lost lots and lots of money. That coupled with the acute time of price gouging, "We have Clorox or antibacterial wipes. You can get them now. They're triple the price." And people were paying only to receive nothing. So not only were you paying triple the price, you were getting nothing in return.> Mike Ellison: The Fraud Watch Helpline has also noticed an uptick in scams since the pandemic started, and they’re likely to get worse as we head into the holiday season. Helpline volunteers receive hundreds of calls per day, so they’re savvy to new scam trends. Mike Ellison: Once again, scammers take advantage of people whose defenses are down. < Amy Nofziger: We're having a lot of romance scams. Romance scams have been around for a very long time, but honestly, people are isolated during the pandemic and so they might go online looking for a connection, a new friend. We've actually heard a lot of these romance scams starting on social games, such as Words with Friends or even on social media with Facebook or Instagram. So my best advice is if you are looking for love online, make sure you know the red flags. So if you're going to a legitimate dating site, make sure to not give any personal information out right away, turn off your location settings. If they fall in love hard and fast, as much as we want to think it's because we're that awesome, it's really a red flag. If they say that they're an American and they're living outside of the country, whether they're doing mission work, they're on a business trip, or even a lot of times, they say they're working on an oil rig, that's a huge red flag. They will quickly ask you for money for an emergency, or they'll even ask you for an iPhone. Big red flag. But, also a lot of people say that, "I wasn't even looking for love." And they'll get a friend request from someone they don't know. Do not accept friend requests from people you do not know on Facebook or Instagram or any of those social media sites. They are looking for people to target. And once you accept that friend request, they will then befriend you and they will try to steal your money.> Mike Ellison: A key take-away from learning about all of these scams, it’s that it’s important to stay vigilant. One strategy you can use to protect yourself against fraud is to be aware of the red flags and read up on the different kinds of scams and how they work. If you spot a scam, you can stop a scam. And, if you’re unsure, Gerber says to ask someone you trust to help out. Clayton Gerber: I think it's difficult to determine when you're presented with a scam what type of a scam it is, and it looks a little different than what you might have heard of before, so maybe it's not a scam. So ask your friends, ask your neighbors, ask a family member. If you have any concerns, talk to someone about it. It is not embarrassing to ask. It is not at all embarrassing to ask. And your friends and relatives and family would love to talk to you about it. Amy Nofziger: We are always hoping that people report their frauds and scams, even if you haven't lost money or given out personal information, if you think you've been approached by a scam, please call the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline. That number is (877) 908-3360. Our trained fraud specialists are looking forward to talking with you. Outro: Mike Ellison: Thanks to Postal Inspector Clayton Gerber and Amy Nofziger with the AARP Fraud Watch Network team. For more information and the latest news, visit AARP dot org slash Fraud Watch Network. If you liked this episode, please let us know by emailing us at [email protected]. Thanks to our news team. Producers Colby Nelson and Danny Alarcon Production Assistant Brigid Lowney Engineer Julio Gonzales Executive Producer Jason Young And, of course, my co-hosts Bob Edwards and Wilma Consul. Become a subscriber on Apple podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and other apps. Be sure to rate our show as well. For An AARP Take on Today, I’m Mike Ellison. Fraud Update: This week, we'll hear from AARP's Fraud Watch Network and the US Postal Inspection Service about the recent uptick in psychic scams and discuss how to spot red flags and keep financial ruin out of your future. For more information:
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