Psychics. Fortune tellers. Mediums. Many towns and cities across Canada have one. They are among the world's oldest professions.
Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King consulted a psychic. So did Nancy Reagan, wife of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. The ancient Greeks, even Roman emperors would hike for days to visit the Oracle of Delphi, a high priestess who told fortunes for a price.
These days, across North America, it鈥檚 an unregulated $2-billion cash business and growing. And now, these so-called seers, purveyors of the paranormal, are the latest Hollywood reality genre, complete with high profile celebrity readings.
Most of the time, it is innocent fun, but not always. Just ask 鈥淛ack鈥�. (At his request, W5 changed his name, face and voice to protect his identity.) He was in his early 30s, with a promising career and two young children when he visited his first psychic.
鈥淗e did a card reading for me. He talked about my past, a bit about my present and obviously he talked about my future,鈥� Jack recalled in an interview with W5. 鈥淎s I left I was pretty intrigued.鈥�
That visit was the beginning of a years-long spiral into the world of the occult, the evil eye and magic candles, which cost Jack his marriage, his job, his house and almost his sanity.
鈥淚鈥檓 so financially buried; I don鈥檛 have another 500 bucks to give a psychic,鈥� Jack said.
Jack paid a lot of money over 13 years to five different self-proclaimed psychics who told him he was cursed, his kids were cursed and they could make the darkness go away.
鈥淚 did the calculation. I鈥檓 talking about $25,000.鈥�
Shocked that he was taken in? Well he鈥檚 not alone.
Jack is one of more than a dozen victims, W5, the Toronto Star and Ryerson University鈥檚 School of Journalism spoke to, who say they were scammed by fraudulent psychics, who make fake claims, phony promises and pocket your cash.
Miki Corrazzo says she鈥檚 a fourth generation psychic who鈥檚 made a legitimate living at this for 40 years. She admits shady psychics are masters at exploiting victims鈥� weaknesses.
鈥淧eople who have been out there and really know how to spin the yarn and tell a good story and be convincing, make up to half a million bucks, easily.鈥�
That鈥檚 half a million dollars a year.
It鈥檚 a crime that goes virtually unchecked, even though fraudulently telling fortunes is a criminal offence.
It鈥檚 hard to prove someone can鈥檛 really tell the future. Police say victims won鈥檛 come forward, for fear of looking superstitious, stupid or staggeringly naïve. But it may be more complicated than simply being gullible.
鈥淲ell it certainly has some parallels to the classic addictions, drug addiction and also pathological gambling,鈥� said Dr. James MacKillop an addictions researcher who admits psychic addiction hasn鈥檛 been widely studied, but perhaps should be.
U.S. research shows one in four people believe in some aspect of the paranormal, but nobody knows exactly how many Canadians have been victimized.
We wanted to see for ourselves what some self-proclaimed psychics offered and how much they charged for their services.
We sent out two undercover agents from W5 and the Toronto Star with fictionalized cover stories. He pretended to be a 40 something, financially successful divorced man who lost his girlfriend and wanted her back. She told psyichics that she was 25 years old, newly engaged and wanted to know if she had picked the right partner.
Psychic Jasmine took less than 10 minutes to ask the agents for $950 and $1200 respectively to lift 鈥渁 circle of darkness鈥� she saw threatening both their relationships. A second psychic Theress asked our female agent for $500 to do a spiritual cleansing to remove the darkness surrounding her. She told the male agent she could only give him advice, not fix his life and sent him away after a $50 reading.
No harm done to our agents; as for Jack, he鈥檚 now renting the home he used to own. He can鈥檛 afford a new car and he still hasn鈥檛 told his family, friends or priest about his troubles. Not even his therapist knows.
鈥淭hey are selling you hope your life will change for the better. If you do these things, candles, crystals or sacrifice a lamb - it will work. And that鈥檚 all you want, for it to work.鈥�
Jack said the magic rituals and fantastical promises sound absurd now, but when his life was imploding, he got desperate and went head first into the paranormal rabbit hole.
鈥淚t does sound crazy and you look back and you kind of go, what was I thinking.鈥�
Sadly, Jack said, there won鈥檛 be justice for the half dozen psychics that nearly ruined his life.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the perfect crime. It鈥檚 the perfect crime.鈥�
