How to Spot and Expose Fake Psychic Medium Frauds - James Randi - Dr. Michael Shermer

Psychic and clairvoyant scams are designed to trick you into giving away your money, usually offering ‘help’ in exchange for a fee. Psychics are technically breaking the law. But they're rarely prosecuted, even when they disappear and leave victims short tens of thousands of dollars. Many individuals claim to possess psychic ability. Religious faith healers state they are able to cure illness. Psychic readers claim to accurately divine the past and predict the future. Mediums often seem to be able to contact the dead. Law enforcement agencies are approached by individuals offering ‘psychic tips’ they feel might help to solve a crime, and alleged psychics have also been used within industry and business. Investigations into these claims have often revealed evidence of trickery, and academics are exploring the psychology behind this unusual form of deception.

Known Psychics and Mentalist Frauds:
Rosemary Altea
James Van Praagh
John Edward
Laurie McQuary
Sylvia Browne
Char Margolis
Theresa Caputo
Matt Fraser
Tyler Henry
Sheila Jones
David Patrick Young
June Field
Mary Lawton Johnson
Jenny Docherty
Allison DuBois
Chip Coffey
Craig Hamilton-Parker
Gale St. John
David James
Lisa Williams
Michelle Whitedove
Sally Morgan
Terry and Linda Jamison
Uri Geller

Sources:

Michael Shermer Debunks James Van Praagh & Psychics
Michael Shermer explains how psychic James Van Praagh appears to talk to the dead by using such mentalism tricks as cold reading and hot reading.

Inside Edition Investigates Psychic Detectives Who Claim to Find Missing Persons
Laurie McQuary is exposed as a fraud on Inside Edition.

Psychic Sylvia Browne's 5 Biggest FAILS - Epic Cringe
Sylvia Browne is exposed as a fraud in several different scenarios.

Psychic Medium John Edward Reads Our Audience | The Meredith Vieira Show
Psychic Medium John Edward gives a psychic reading to a mother who lost her 5 month old son. Or did he really? Watch his techniques very carefully. Notice how he told the mother nothing of value as he constantly probed with common general questions, fast talking, and psychic pseudo jargon. Then he ended with a warm fuzzy feels message while giving no real information.

James Randi Exposes Psychic Fraud Rosemary Altea on Larry King Live (Around 2001)
Rosemary Altea claims to communicate with the dead and have visions of the future. Her generic readings are bound to get right for someone in the audience. She repeats the same scenarios over and over again, and they are all the same. She is always not sure on who it is she says she is hearing or seeing. This is her safety valve. So if she gets it wrong, it's no big deal in her mind. If she really sees and hears these loved ones, why are they never precise? Either they speak with her or they don't. Why do they never tell her their names and point to the relative? It never happens. There is a very good reason why specific details are never part of a psychic's readings.

Other Helpful Resources:

SCAM WATCH

WHEN IS FORTUNE-TELLING A CRIME?

Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951

Scam the bereaved, defraud the dead: the shocking crimes of America’s greatest psychic conman

Psychology of Psychic Fraud

SPIRITUALIST AND PSYCHIC FRAUD LITIGATION

I’m a fake psychic and here’s how I trick you

PSYCHOLOGY OF EXTRAORDINARY BELIEFS

Investigating Mental Mediums

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Music credit:
Valentina Gribanova
Paul Van Dyk
Jacknife Lee

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[markandrzejak]

These psychic mediums ask or say such vague things that it difficult to NOT get right answers. They're mostly just professional guessers.

[Bunny-urfd]

Quacks. All of them. Shameful. Should be jailed.

[graftme]

If someone calls and wants to contact a grandmother, why does she "see" another person that is not the grandmother? It's stupid.

[WindsorGoldPlating]

He doesn't actually know anything ...constantly asking her to give him details...and everything she says he reiterates as if he thought about first. You have to be an absolutely mug to believe these grief vampires!!!! You only have yourself to blame if you believe what someone says... 😅

[Sharon_McCluskey]

I'd be extremely wealthy if i was a real psychic. I'd play the lottery every year.

[thefeasibilianproject]

Rosemary Altea says she heard voices and saw faces when she was a child, and it was terrifying. Auditory and visual hallucinations from Schizophrenia usually are terrifying.

[davidneyra]

I almost got scammed by a psychic who told me I have a curse, she wanted 8, 000.00 to lift the curse which I had since I was a kid, I was very vulnerable and that lady took advantage of it, according to her .she said been a psychic was her gift to help people, if she wanted to help, why would she have charged in the first place? And why didn't she hit the lottery? I walked away because my gut feeling told me not to pay that amount, it felt so fishy

[dashmagic]

The women just laughing over James Randi when he was trying to explain her techniques says a lot..

[atrocchia]

What makes psychics and mediums seem legitimate is when they appear on TV shows. Of course, TV is a wasteland, now more than ever.

[gweilospur]

You don’t really need to “expose” them as it is obvious to any rational person that they are fake. You may as well say you are going to “expose” Santa Claus as non- existent.

[Omnicient.]

At 58:50 King asks the caller: 'Is it a mother father what?'! which is a question you don't ask as it only gives information to the supposed medium and shows how ignorant and uninterested he was. King was clearly biased when he should have been on the fence. She didn't take Randi's offer of winning a million nor did the other 'famous' mediums.

[jamesski]

John Edward is extremely easy to duplicate because uses shotgunning techniques. Edward: "I'm getting pulled over here, and I'm picking up a vibe from some father figure (super vague term) whose name starts with either a G or J sounding name. And they are either passed or alive". Come on Zammit (the same guy who endorsed Gary Mannion's mediumship, and then took it down after he was caught committing fraud.

[JackieBlue]

We are NOT to talk to the dead.✝️♾️💟⚓🕊️

[mariadelpilar]

She changed her last name to Alteah which is Greek and means “one who heals, the one who takes care"

[vinnyvincent]

Follow their money trail not their Stories ! ❤

[robertwadas]

There would have to be a real one first. All fake.

[vinnyvincent]

Here is a Headline you will never see ! Psychic wins Lottery AGAIN !

[thefeasibilianproject]

Pay careful attention to the language John Edward uses, and the way he warms up the audience with a joke right away. This is classic high speed cold reading, with a gish gallop of pseudo jargon to appear like he is an authority. Then he tries to hit on common names and themes that almost anyone can relate to. He offers nothing of value, but with a dash of entertainment.

[graftme]

She's really skilled at gaslighting! Anybody else notice?

[hanzhovaj]

The smartest thing a psychic ever said to me was, " Don't go looking and searching for the dead, because the dead will be searching and looking for you. "