Scam
Psychic and clairvoyant scams are designed to trick you into giving away your money, usually offering ‘help’ in exchange for a fee.
How this scam works
Psychic and clairvoyant scammers approach you by post, email, telephone or even face-to-face to foreshadow a positive upcoming event or claiming that you are in some sort of trouble and offering a solution.
This solution could be winning lottery numbers, a lucky charm, the removal of a curse or jinx, or ongoing protection. The scammer will tell you that they will help you in return for a fee. If you refuse to pay, some scammers will threaten to invoke a curse or bad luck charm on you.
Scammers may try and talk you into buying a lucky charm or secret of wealth, and once you have paid, will send you a worthless item or nothing at all. Alternatively, the scammer may warn you of a false future event and then promise to protect you from that event in return for ongoing payments.
These kinds of scams can also lead to your name and contact details being put onto a ‘victim list’ which will result in you receiving further scam approaches, for example unexpected prize or lottery scams or inheritance scams.
Remember, the psychic or clairvoyant may try to convince you that their insights are genuine by telling you something about yourself. Ask yourself if they are telling you something that is general and could be true about anyone. They may also tell you something about yourself that you mentioned previously or that they gathered from another source, such as personal details you posted on a social networking website.
Warning signs
- You receive an email or letter out of the blue from somebody claiming to be a psychic or clairvoyant. This person claims to have some sort of special insight into your life.
- They may claim you have been cursed or jinxed and offer to remove this themselves or give you the name of someone else who can do so.
- You may be offered a good luck charm, the secret to enormous wealth, magic potions or winning lottery numbers for a fee.
Protect yourself
- If you are approached by a psychic or clairvoyant and they tell you that you are in danger, have bad luck or are cursed, be very cautious – their solution is likely to be a scam.
- Never send any money, credit card or other personal details to these scammers, and never by email. Responding for any reason only indicates you're interested and you could end up with many more potential scam letters and emails in the future.
- If you want to engage the services of a psychic or clairvoyant, ensure you know the total cost of anything you order and exactly what you will receive. Ask if there are any conditions and ongoing or hidden costs.
- Never call a telephone number that you see in a scam email.
Have you been scammed?
If you think you have provided your account details to a scammer, contact your bank or financial institution immediately.
We encourage you to report scams to the ACCC via the report a scam page. This helps us to warn people about current scams, monitor trends and disrupt scams where possible. Please include details of the scam contact you received, for example, email or screenshot.
We also provide guidance on protecting yourself from scams and where to get help.
Spread the word to your friends and family to protect them.