When we spend money, we want it to be something that gives us a return on investment (ROI), right? Ok, maybe that isn’t how you think about it, but basically it is a case where you want to “get something” for your money.
Even if you were to go to the casino for the weekend, knowing that the odds are that you are going to spend your money and not win anything, you realize that you are paying for the experience. You are having some fun. Therefore, you are getting some “fun” from the experience that involves spending money.
On the other end of the spectrum are scams. That is where we pay money for something, expecting to receive something in return, and our money is literally flushed down the toilet and we receive nothing in return.
One area to look at (among many!) is psychic scams. There was a story of a woman who lost $20,000 in what was determined to be a scam. Her vulnerabilities and fears were manipulated and she lost her life’s savings in less than 24 hours.
It is true that if you are not expecting the psychic reading to give you anything but a fun time, then maybe it wouldn’t be a scam. Why? Because you are only expecting a fun experience and assuming you get that fun time, you have received something in return for spending your money. But, if you are one of those people who are truly seeking answers and help, then the last thing that you want is to be scammed and spending your money on nothing. Depending on your expectations, this could leave you in a position of not even being able to do anything with the information that you received from the reading.
Psychic Readings for Entertainment
Psychic readings have been featured in movies, spoofed in situation comedy, and even put together for the purpose of entertainment, like Olivia Wilde’s “reading” featured in Huffington Post (video).
Mashable, in a play-by-play description of an episode in the popular show, “American Horror Story,” mentions a fake psychic reading, and how it is done in the show.
According to CNN, psychic readings were also offered as a gift, in Emmy swag bags, awhile back.
Why Unethical Psychic Readings?
Whether you “believe” in psychic readings or not, one thing most people can agree on is that there is the existence of fake psychic readings. Why? If you sat down and made a list of all of the different ways that a person could make money, you are likely to find someone somewhere doing each of those items on the list as a scam to draw money from your pocket. It is human nature for some people to be unethical and to attempt to “scam” others out of their money. It is all about that person padding their pocket and a complete disregard for other people. That is how we know that unethical psychic readings exist (regardless of whether you believe that ethical and legitimate psychic readings exist). It is because the world is comprised of humans and there are some humans who are unethical.
Separating the Fakes Out of the Pack
In the same way that we know that there are those out there who are going to “scam you,” regardless of what profession they are in or what service they provide, so, we also know something else about humans. What is that? It is that humans are not that complicated and we are not that different from each other, at the core level. We all desire to be loved (even if we say we don’t!), we seek companionship (to some level), we experience pain, hurt, sad feelings, fear, anger, and the list goes on as we describe what it is to be “human.”
All that a psychic scam artist needs to do is to take advantage of this knowledge of humans and manipulate emotions (especially fear) and to draw out information from the victim. Their starting point only needs to be that you, as the recipient of the reading, has normal human emotions and they can ask leading questions to put the picture together and give vague predictions of what may happen to you in the future, based on the information that you have inadvertently provided.
How Do I Protect Myself?
If you are only in it for the “fun” and do not plan on actually acting on the information that you receive in a reading, then likely you are not impacted that much, as you are not in a position that you desire to use the information. If obtaining a reading is more important to you, keep in mind the ways that a potential scam artist could “scam you” and guard yourself against giving them the tips to what is going on in your life. If they truly have the “gift,” they should be able to do it without your help.
