With her Jamaican accent Miss Cleo, a self proclaimed psychic and shaman would give you the answers to all life's mysteries... for up to 9.95 per minute. Turns out, Miss Cleo was not born in Jamaica at all. A birth certificate showing that Miss Cleo was in reality Youree Dell Harris, an American born in Los Angeles in 1962. According to the FTC, the purportedly "renowned psychic" whose ads promote "free" readings to callers seeking advice, is the subject of a federal district court complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission. The charges include: -Deceptively misrepresent, in their advertising, that a "reading" will be provided at no cost. - Through their agents, misrepresent the cost of the calls by claiming that consumers' free minutes have not expired, that the consumer had been awarded additional free time, or that the consumer will not be charged while on hold. - Falsely represent that consumers are legally required to pay for services even though, in many instances, no such legal obligation exists; and engages in unfair practices by frequently and repeatedly calling consumers, including consumers who had previously indicated they did not wish to receive such calls, and by failing to provide consumers with a reasonable method to stop such calls. Our Advice... This genre brings in the "riff-raff." Anybody can call themselves a medium, get a 900 number/website & prey on the lonely, desperate people of the world. Save your money and time and AVOID at all costs people that call themselves psychics, palmists, clairvoyants, futurists, astrologists, numerologists, mediums, trancers or witches. Unless... They have a record over a period of time with a successful and satisfied client list. Most reputable firms will allow to check their references without question, email addresses, telephone numbers etc. If they don't beware! Some people do have a gift in this area and can give you quality readings and enlightenment beyond what a "normal person" can do. It's simply a matter of detecting the scams. Most of the firms that offer psychic and horoscope readings online, the good ones anyway, have a very detailed personal information section that requires your input. Think of it like signing up for a personals site. The ones that require lots of information from you usually get the best results. This makes your reading more personal and specific. The bad ones will give you only canned replies and fluff. |
