Two weeks ago, Neos Kosmos reported about a scam case that a mid-age Melbourne Greek woman fell victim to, losing around $90,000 over seven months to a fake clairvoyant.
The Greek woman agreed to speak to Neos Kosmos, on condition of anonymity, determined to share her story and prevent these scams from happening.
“After seeing the newspaper ad of an international spiritualist, I was curious to see what it was all about, even though I never had such intentions before. I wasn’t looking for money; I wasn’t looking for love, nothing like that,” the Melbourne woman tells Neos Kosmos.
Her first visit to a fake spiritualist, in the northern suburb of Fawkner, was for a $50 consultation, in March this year. The victim became convinced the spiritualist was legitimate when he picked up on her medical problems in his reading.
“I just got sucked in, and it went on from there. He just lured me, until this day I don’t know how I got sucked in by this man.
“After the consultation, I said I will think about proceeding with sessions, and he told me the sooner you open the spiritual paths, the better. The cost was $750. When I said I haven’t got that money – he said ‘I’m a spiritualist, I can see, I know you have the money’,” she tells Neos Kosmos.
During the first couple of months the face-to-face appointments were as frequent as once to twice a week. After that, the sessions were conducted via phone, as the ‘highest spiritual master’ was sending the fake clairvoyant to the forests, he convinced the victim. To conduct required sessions, the spiritualist asked for money, explaining that it was needed ‘to get rid of the evil spirits’.
The woman made several payments of thousands of dollars at a time for ‘spiritual purposes’, as she was told repeated cash instalments up to $5,000 would get rid of the spirits. The Greek victim told Neos Kosmos that between $1,500 up to $6,500, in instalments, were sent to the account of the clairvoyant, through Western Union.
“I also had to send the money to this place in Gambia, a spiritualist centre, he told me. He would pray on it and then I would get the money back. He lured me, I just couldn’t see it.
“When he kept on saying that he was on his way back to Melbourne for months, and I ran out of money, I realised I’m not getting my money back. I started applying for loans, I had overdrafts on my credit card because I had all these big bills to pay, and I’ve stopped hearing from him. Everything just happened so quickly, it was like I was in a trance, I couldn’t see.”
By the time the woman reported the case to police and Consumers Affairs Victoria, the psychic had disappeared from his home in Fawkner.
The money the victim thought she was sending to a spiritualist centre in Gambia, it was later proven, was going to another bogus clairvoyant account in Sydney. It is believed the two men are related.
The victim tells Neos Kosmos she decided to speak out as she believes other people fell victim to the same spiritualist.
“I’m not expecting to get my money back. The police couldn’t do anything, as I sent that money as a gift – as it was told to me. I am speaking out, to protect others from what has happened to me. The more people speak up, the better,” she says.
Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria Claire Noone warned people to be wary of scammers posing as psychics, clairvoyants and fortune-tellers, as numerous Victorians fell victim to psychic scams this year.
So far in 2013, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has received 123 reports of psychic scams, with $481,709 reported lost, the spokesperson earlier told Neos Kosmos. With many cases going unreported, real figures are likely to be higher.
According to the ACCC SCAMwatch website, psychic and clairvoyant scammers approach victims by post, email, telephone or even face-to-face. The scammers often use fear tactics, by warning the victim of a false future event and then promising to protect them from it in return for ongoing payments, or invoke a curse if the payment is refused – which often leads victims into a vicious circle they can’t get out of. The factor of embarrassment is often involved, and the fear of the family and friends’ reaction.
“I was severely stressed because I kept all this to myself, as I was embarrassed. I wouldn’t speak to anybody – but I had to in the end, because I was severely stressed after giving away $90,000, and also borrowing some money. I hope people are going to think twice now when they see an ad for a psychic,” the victim tells Neos Kosmos.
“Just don’t go, don’t send any money to people you don’t know. If they sound so convinced that they can change your life – the more certain they are, the more you should think there is something wrong with it.”
Stelios Piakis, AGWS Aged Care&Disability Services unit manager, told Neos Kosmos that AGWS hasn’t had similar cases reported, however its social workers and Access and Support officers, are there to help senior citizens with any issues they may have.
“I would suspect that if any elderly person approaches us about issues like scams, unfortunately it would probably be after it happens. And that’s problematic because at that stage there is not much you can do, apart from advising them how to report it to police and how to avoid falling pray to such scams in future.”
More community awareness on these issues would be great, Mr Piakis said, in order for elderly not to fall pray to scammers.
“If in doubt, call AGWS and seek advice or call the police. Don’t make any commitments, don’t give any details of your bank accounts, credit card or any other details, and treat the situation very carefully,” Mr Piakis advised.
If you have been approached or have sent money to a clairvoyant who you think is a scammer, and want to report a scam or learn more about how to identify it, call 1300 55 81 81 131 450 or visit www.scamwatch.gov.au
For advice and information in Greek and languages other than English, call 131 450 and say the English name of your language, then ask the interpreter to call 1300 55 81 81.