I received a phone call a few days ago from a distraught woman who fell prey to a psychic scammer. My blood boils every time I hear about fake psychics coming up with new ways to trick people. So here is lesson number one: never let a psychic or medium choose you. You should choose to consult a medium or a psychic.

Claire (not her real name) told me that she received an intriguing message from a “psychic” through her Instagram account. The false intuitive sent Claire an email saying that he had seen Claire’s photo on Instagram and felt such “strong vibes” that he needed to contact her.

The fraud said that he felt that Claire was surrounded by negative energy, and if he wanted to get rid of this negativity, he needed to buy “special” crystals for $200. The crystals, the “psychic” said, would help her determine what was wrong with Claire’s image. Claire ordered the crystals.

(Lesson number two: never buy anything to prepare for a professional reading. An honest psychic/medium will charge you for a session, and that’s it!)

During the next phone call, the embarrassing shaman told Claire that after examining her photo, he discovered that someone had cursed her because they wanted Claire to be unhappy. However, if Claire bought “special” candles for $500, the psychic might start “trying” to remove the curse. Unfortunately, Claire was afraid to believe that she needed help. She did not have the money available and charged her purchase on her Visa.

(Lesson three: Never give out your credit card information over the phone! Respectable workers use services like PayPal or insist that customers make electronic transfers through a bank.)

The scammer told Claire that it would take a year to remove the curse and that she needed to pay $250 a week to make sure the anti-curse would keep working. When Claire said that she didn’t have the money, the impostor said that he would help Claire by arranging a suitable payment plan.

At that moment, Claire became wise. She asked a friend that she had visited psychic mediums in the past and gave Claire my phone number. Claire called crying and after hearing her story, I ground my teeth so hard she could have bitten into steel.

“I feel like I’m being ripped off,” Claire said. “But she talked to me on the phone for hours and treated me like a friend.”

Of course the scammer spoke nicely as a friend, I thought. This is how they get you to trust them.

Claire continued, “But I still haven’t given him any money to continue my cure.”

“Claire, you don’t need any cure,” I told her. “This person you are talking to is not a doctor and you are not sick! Nobody can curse you, a ‘curse’ is nothing more than believing that something outside of you is emotionally and spiritually stronger than you. Tell me – do you think this supposed psychic is more powerful than you?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Claire said, “N-no…”.

“Good girl.” So I advised Claire to change her credit card number immediately.

We chatted for a while longer, and Claire seemed to feel better. After she hung up, she saddened me to realize that some people exist only to make others feel bad about themselves. I keep a small newspaper clipping by my desk to remind me of this. It’s from the classifieds section under “Astrologers/Psychics.” These are some of the announcements:

“Mr. W- solves all problems quickly. Work, Love, Health, Depression, Enemies, Sexual Problem, Bad Luck. 100% Elimination of Black Magic.”

“The spiritualist Mr. K- solves problems related to love, court, business, family, money, the enemy. He treats 100% black magic.”

Lesson four, and probably the most important thing to remember: A reputable psychic or medium never promises to cure your problems. That’s your job. Life can often be tough and of course we are met with challenges. But we grow spiritually and emotionally when we learn to strengthen ourselves and are able to reject those who say they can cure our ills for the price of crystals and candles.