Spiritualist & Psychic Fraud
BBB warns residents to watch out for no-show psychics on social media
The Better Business Bureau is warning citizens to watch out for scam psychics who use social media to find victims. BBB Scam Tracker has received reports from people who paid for readings and other services but never received what they were promised.
Inside NXIVM: Emotional and financial harm
New York (February 12, 2020) – 80 victims filed a lawsuit against the leadership of the NXIVM cult and accused the 19 defendants of fraud, identity theft, racketeering, forced labor, sex trafficking, and negligence for engaging in unauthorized practice of...
80 victims file lawsuit against NXIVM cult leadership
New York (February 12, 2020) – 80 victims filed a lawsuit against the leadership of the NXIVM cult in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on January 28. 41 Canadian women and men are among the plaintiffs. The complaint alleges that the...
Woman charged with witchcraft just 2 days before offence scrubbed from law
Dec. 19, 2018 (Courtesy of CBC.ca) - A northern Ontario woman was charged with fake witchcraft just two days before the archaic offence was removed from the Criminal Code. Timmins police charged 33-year-old Tiffany Butch on Dec. 11, accusing her of demanding...
Milton psychic accused of scamming victim of $60,000 and ‘witchcraft’
Oct. 29, 2018 (courtesy of Globalnews.ca) - Halton Regional Police have arrested and charged a 32-year-old Milton woman, who works as a psychic, for fraud after she allegedly scammed a victim of over $60,000. Dorie “Madeena” Stevenson of Milton was charged with...
Canadian woman was defrauded of at least $740,000 (US) By “Psychic”
Mat 14, 2018 ( Courtesy the Guardian.com) - Psychic Zoe has not had a very good week. On 9 May the fortune-teller, whose real name is Ann Thompson, was arrested by the New York Police Department on suspicion of defrauding clients out of over $800,000. You’d think she...
Peel police arrest Darshan Dhaliwal in spiritual scam
Investigators from the Peel Regional Police Fraud Bureau have arrested and charged 40-year-old Darshan Dhaliwal for defrauding a woman as part of a spiritual scam. In July 2016, Dhaliwal met with the victim and advised her that he had a lot of good luck and was very...
Edmonton woman says she lost $80,000 to ‘astrologer’ she met on Kijiji
An Edmonton woman says she was bilked out of $50,000 in cash and $30,000 in gold by an astrologer who told her she was under a black magic curse. Legal assistant Manpreet Deol, 31, said the money represented her life savings. She had planned to use it to make a down...
Wicked witchcraft: Edmonton police warn about phony astrologers, psychic readers
That old black magic got one Edmonton victim in its spell, police say, and recently cost someone in the city $100,000. City police say they've received numerous reports of fraudsters who pose as astrologers and psychic readers. Some victims have forked over money...
Alleged witchcraft practitioner pleads guilty to fraud
A man charged with practicing witchcraft plead guilty to one count of fraud in a Toronto courtroom on Tuesday. Murali Muthyalu, 37, allegedly defrauded a man $100,000 after claiming he could heal a sick relative by removing their evil spirits. Muthyalu is a visitor...
Psychic hit with witchcraft charge after man pays $101K to remove evil spirit: Toronto police
Toronto police say a psychic has been pretending to practice witchcraft, fraud over $5,000 and extortion after a customer allegedly paid more than $100,000 to have an "evil spirit" removed. Investigators say the accused Murali Muthyalu, 37, advertised his services as...
Brampton man arrested in spiritual scam after cleansing woman’s money, jewellery of ‘evil spirits’
A Brampton man has been arrested and charged after allegedly defrauding a woman of $61,000 in cash and jewellery in what police are calling a 'spiritual scam.' Peel police allege Darshan Dhaliwal told a Brampton woman that he had won a lottery and was lucky because he...
What is psychic fraud? Scheme explained in short animation
Investigation Counsel PC handles numerous psychic fraud claims. But what does it actually mean? This animation explains the scheme and what victims should know. A collaboration between Canadian Fraud News Inc. and Investigation Counsel PC: www.investigationcounsel.com...
Man posed as spiritual healer, defrauded clients with his wife
Police west of Toronto say a husband and wife duo has been charged with fraud after the man allegedly posed as a spiritual healer and accepted money for his services. She allegedly used her position as a case worker for Peel Region's Ontario Works Assistance Program...
‘Psychic’ mail fraud scheme tied to Canada shut down
The U.S. Department of Justice has shut down an international psychic direct mail scheme that it alleges bilked “vulnerable” Americans out of more than $180 million (U.S.) with guarantees of winning lottery numbers and a “New Life.” Connected to the scheme are two...
Frauds by Spiritualists and Psychics – Conscious versus Unconscious Fraud
The Toronto Star published a story yesterday titled “US Prosecutors Say They’ve Shut Down a Psychic Mail Fraud Scheme Tied to Canada”.[1] It states that Canadians were targeted in a psychic direct mail scheme it alleges scammed at least one million Americans out of...
Canada’s witch trials: Fake sorcerers and sham psychics
A little-used law that cracks down on “pretend witchcraft” remains in force more than a century after its enactment, but cities across Canada are still crawling with sham conjurers, fake sorcerers and fraudulent psychics. “I think the rarity of the charge comes down...
Psychic in cash scam: Madam Meline
Madam Meline or Sabrina Evon made several psychic fraud victims by promising them financial ruin, life in a wheelchair and the suffering of their children if they didn’t pay her to pray for them. One elderly woman was even forced to sell her house to stump up the...