I think it’s safe to say it’s been a rough week for a woman who calls herself Psychic Zoe. This self-proclaimed fortune-teller is the latest example of psychic fraud after being arrested by New York Police Department on May 9th. Her real name is Ann Thompson, and NYPD arrested her on suspicion of defrauding clients out of more than $800,000!
Police discovered Thompson after two of her victims contacted private investigator Bob Nygaard. Nygaard has made quite a name for himself in the psychic scam field. Both victims chose to remain anonymous when making their reports. One is a Canadian woman in her late 40’s who lost about $740,000.
The other is a male business professional from the Midwest in his 30s. He met Thompson in Manhattan last year while on a business trip, and she scammed him out of $72,000. The Canadian victim told Nygaard that she decided to see the psychic due to relationship problems she was experiencing.
What would it hurt to pay Psychic Zoe just down the street $5 to have her fortune read, right? Unfortunately, the victim couldn’t have been more mistaken. Thompson quickly sensed the woman’s naiveté and broken heart and didn’t waste any time taking advantage of her situation. She preyed on the victim’s despair and depleted her entire life savings.
She convinced the distressed woman that she would never find love again unless she bought Thompson a 9.2-carat diamond ring. Thompson also convinced the woman to spend large amounts of money on building a “golden pyramid” that would protect her and her loved ones from death, along with spells that would eliminate demons. Of course, both these things were lies.
Detective Nygaard To The Rescue
Thanks to Nygaard’s help, Thompson was arrested and is now awaiting sentencing. Nygaard has put numerous scamming psychics in jail; about 30, by his count, have been prosecuted. Thanks to him, his clients have received about $3.5 million back. Despite his excellent track record, Nygaard still has difficulty getting law enforcement to take fortune-teller fraud seriously.
He said that in this case, he received “excellent cooperation from a NYPD detective,” but that usually, psychic fraud isn’t a priority for the police, and they don’t take time to work those cases. Nygaard firmly believes that psychics conning large sums of money from desperate people is a severe problem.
“The prevalence with which these psychic scams are occurring, and the exorbitant amounts of money of which vulnerable people are being defrauded, not only in NYC but all over the USA, is absolutely astonishing,” he said in an interview recently. “Police and prosecutors need to wake up [and] realize that these self-proclaimed psychics are often part of organized criminal enterprises.”
I hate hearing about this happening to trusting and unsuspecting victims! It reminds me of when it occurred to me years ago, and it breaks my heart.
Stories like this are why I only consult genuine, background-checked, and tested psychics.
Don’t be the next victim; check out my psychic reviews page to connect with authentic and sincere psychics and ensure this doesn’t happen to you.
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I am a phone psychic and this makes me sick. I have several clients that have told me how much they have pd. to cons’,but I take the time to try to tell them never never pay anyone for services over and above what they are paying for their reading. Extras huh. What a scam and shame on the scammers. They make us look very bad.
It is sad Jan. Kudos to you for not trying to rip off your customers!