Melbourne, AU. – A woman from the Melbourne area was one of many victims scammed out of thousands of dollars by a supposed “psychic.” This victim lost close to $90,000 to the swindler. Consumer Affairs Victoria received thirteen complaints, all related to psychic scams, just in the past year alone.
They estimate the number is much higher, but unfortunately, not all victims reported the fraudulent psychic. Consumer Affairs Victoria was not the only one that received complaints about psychic phonies. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission received about 125 complaints last year. Of those 125 reports, con artists swindled 41 out of nearly $445,000!
A 51-year-old woman from Alphington reported that a man claiming to be a spiritualist named Habib Bamba stole her life’s savings in seven months. After reading his ad in a Greek newspaper, she initially went to see him for a $50 consultation. The woman wished to remain anonymous but still shared her experience. She said she started believing in his psychic abilities after he accurately listed her medical problems during the initial reading.
Bamba told her that she had “evil spirits” in her life. He said that for recurring payments of $5,000, he could get rid of them for her. That would supposedly keep her from ever being sick again. Bamba also told her that if she ever stopped paying him, bad things would begin happening to her. He convinced the woman to do as he told her. She eventually had to get loans for the money once she ran out of her own.
The Victim Was Too Late In Reporting To The Police
Unfortunately, when she decided enough was enough and reported him to the police, it was too late. Bamba had already deserted the place where he was residing. He has a website with a phone number, but nobody answered when The Herald Sun tried to call it. Another “psychic” scammed a different Victorian out of $7,500 over two months.
This fake also convinced them they needed to pay that money to keep “dire events” from happening to them. A fraudulent psychic bilked a third woman out of $4,500 in one year. They paid this amount to a clairvoyant who promised to bring her and her partner together. Claire Noone is the director of Consumer Affairs Victoria.
She says fraudulent psychics prey on the victims’ insecurities and knows which customers are more vulnerable than others. They usually always frighten them by telling them that something terrible is going on in their lives that they could prevent for a certain amount of money. They often threaten their victim by telling them that if they do not pay or stop making payments, something tragic will happen to them or their loved ones.
Anytime you have a reading with any psychic, you should always question if what the psychic is saying could be true for anyone and remember all the little things you tell them during the reading that they could read more into than you are aware of.
There are good, honest psychics, such as the ones I have personally encountered and reviewed, but unfortunately, the dishonest, fraudulent ones make the good ones look bad. It’s best to protect yourself and not fall into anyone’s trap.
Readings as low as $10!
Readings as low as $5!
Get 6 minutes free!
I think there is a so called psychic/medium in lancaster, ca. that needs to be interview for fraud. I’ve never been to a psychic before and this lady lives close to my address, so i called and made an appointment. The things that she told me on the interview did not make sence to me. I went to see her about my wife that passed away march of 2013. I wanted to know if she was ok, and with family. well she told me that she was not with family, or in heaven cause she had a curse put on her 21years ago by her own sister. in my mind how could that be. I spent 44 years before my wife passed and i know her entire family for that long, and there is no way that could true. Well, she told me that she could remove the curse for $2100 dollars and i fell for it. What did i not know?, the list goes on.
If you Angela wish to have her phone no., and address-please email me me. cause i think i have been had, and i wish a had that money back..Thank you for listening.
Hi Candido,
I’m sorry to hear about your wife. It sounds like you went to a fraudulent Psychic for sure. As I’ve said before, curses are not real. If a Psychic ever requests money to remove a curse or even mentions that you are cursed then run far away. If you would like you can use my contact page for to send me her information and I will investigate. If I were you I would notify your local police department so they can begin investigating this fraud (if they aren’t already). The worst thing you can do is to let this go. Notify the police, this is a serious crime. The police call this a “crime of confidence.” Don’t feel embarrassed these con artists are good at what they do. I’m sure your wife is in a good place with family and loved ones. I will say a prayer for her.