HW2: Fortune Telling as Fraud

Can you imagine life without basic needs such as food, water, air, money, shelter, clothing, family, education, transportation and many others? Humans need a number of necessities to be able to survive. These needs include either physical or non-physical elements needed for human growth and development. According to Abraham Maslow, needs are hierarchical in nature. That is, each need has a specific ranking or order of attainment.

The most common reason for fraudulent actions is the scarcity of needs. A critical financial need is usually the cause of fraud. Some people also commit fraud to pay for a prominent life style which then they could not afford to sustain. Needs may arise from a number of situations such as: marriage break-ups and/or extravagant love affairs, drug or alcohol addiction, debts, gambling, business deficits and unexpected family emergencies.

According to the dictionary, fraud is a false representation of a matter of fact—whether by words or by conduct, by false or misleading allegations, or by concealment of what should have been disclosed—that deceives and is intended to deceive another so that the individual will act upon it to her or his legal injury. If there are white lies which means lying for a good reason, fraud is as well like a white offense which means it is a crime without anyone being hurt.

I found an article entitled “Fortune Telling Fraud” from Wikipedia supported by another article entitled “Secret testimony, use of ‘Gypsy’ term to be given to defense in “psychic” fraud case” by Paula McMahon.

According to the first article from Wikipedia, “The basic feature of the scam involves diagnosing the victim (the "mark") with some sort of secret problem that only that fortune teller can detect or diagnose, and then charging the mark for ineffectual treatments. The fortune teller announces that the mark is suffering from a curse that her magic can relieve, while threatening dire consequences if the curse is not lifted.”

It also states that “In this scam, a fortune teller uses her cold reading skill to detect that a client is genuinely troubled rather than merely seeking entertainment; or is a gambler complaining of bad luck. The fortune teller informs the mark that they are the victim of a curse, but that for a fee a spell can be cast to remove the curse.”

In my point of view, because of scarcity of needs (especially financial) some fortune tellers grabbed the chance to defraud their customers. A crime designed to financially control a victim can be made under the mask of delivering advice or aid. It requires attaining the victim's complete trust and, then through cautiously manipulation, convincing the victim to give money and valuables to the suspect(s). Victims of these cases are of any age and gender with a common purpose of seeking answers to their questions or asking for help in solving their problem in their life.

I believe that the crime commences with the usual ‘reading’ process for a minimal fee. The fortune teller uses methods and props such as Tarot cards, crystal ball, palm reading, horoscopes, numerology, etc. During the session, the reader/fortune teller can apply his/her cold reading ability, it is the ability to gain information about the customer without that person realizing that the reader is actually giving up the information him/herself. This alone is an instance of fraud for it deceives or takes unfair advantage of his/her customer.

On the second article, a family of fortune tellers defrauded several clients of $40 million by taking money and valuables they promised to give back but failed to return. They now wanted to use the word ‘gypsy’ as a defense in their psychic fraud case. There are stories in the second article and in the Wikipedia which are similar to other articles where a psychic reader was accused of inducing a 12 year old girl to steal $10,000 worth of jewelry from her parents by threats of a curse. All the stories have a common point, that the fortune teller convinced her client to send her money and property in payment for a year of prayer to be cleansed of "evil" or “curse”.

As soon as the customer now believed that there is really an evil or curse, the reader now convinces the victim that through physic powers she/he alone is able to remove this curse. And because the victim believed that the fortune teller has God-given talent/powers then he/she is now willing to pay or giving everything to be able to remove or destruct the curse or evil with pray over.

I strongly consider that no matter what they call it, ‘gypsy’, ‘psychic’ or ‘fortune teller’, they are considered as one for they have the same purpose, to defraud or manipulate their customers/victims. A long-term fraud/crime results in the total psychological manipulation of the victim, which separates them from any support from family or friends and keeps them very open or vulnerable to any suggestions given by the reader.