Phony psychic: advice on how to spot and avoid one

Believe it or not, there are varying degrees of what constitutes psychic scams and psychic fraud. There are the worst of the worst psychic scams or this psychic con artist, for instance. However, this article focuses on a more garden-variety phony psychic or fake psychic, who is bad enough.

Pure and simple, the main objective of any fake or phony psychic is to make money, not unlike the worst of the worst. However, the slight difference is that they are often found working for legitimate businesses that have some real psychics mixed in, so they can be harder to spot going in.

How do I tell if my psychic is real and not a phony psychic trying to sell me?

Most people, who want to see a psychic, do so because they have something in particular they want to know. That is obvious, right? And, because you want to know whatever it is and you feel it’s common to do so, you are more than happy to provide the phony psychic with your desired direction; be it about your love life, work, family, or business.

You will continue to provide the phony psychic with more and more information throughout the psychic reading, perhaps unwittingly, because they have been engaging you in what appeared to be casual conversation, which was actually fishing for that information—and to keep you on the line for as long as possible. They make more money that way!

A phony psychic will use any and all information you provide to their advantage.

You might even think—I’ve got this! Well aware that you are being charged anywhere from $3.95 to as much as $13.00 per minute, you try to get your psychic reading done as quickly as possible—but you are also human. People love to talk, especially about themselves or what is going on in their lives and they may have so few people to talk to or anyone who will listen. A phony psychic knows this and encourages it. The more you talk, the more money he or she makes.

A really good phony psychic will carefully craft the information you provide to appear as though it came from them or it’s a part of the entire psychic reading. I call it a scripted reading. After all, who is going to question the accuracy of what you provide in the first place? And quite naturally, you will then believe that the psychic was accurate or gave you an accurate psychic reading, because a great deal of the information provided was by you!

Remember, you are paying a psychic for their information, not to provide your own.

If you go on a psychic network or contact a psychic online, be aware of any questions they might ask, including comments or leading requests for more information—because if a phony psychic, they will ask.

Generally speaking, a real psychic doesn’t ask you questions or fish for information.

With a phony psychic, be watchful for:

  • Any psychic who can’t pinpoint or be relatively accurate about something concerning your past or present—again, without you giving any information at the onset. This can be very telling about whether you have found a phony psychic, as generally speaking, they don’t have a point of reference to work from.


  • Make sure that the psychic isn’t providing you general information like, “I see you’ve been hurt.” Everyone has been hurt! They should be able to be more specific, even if not exact.


  • Psychic readings received from two or more psychics that were eerily similar, especially if received via the same psychic network. While this can be innocent and true, it can also be from fake psychics who are providing scripted psychic readings. If you didn’t provide them any reference points or with information and a lot of what they said to you made sense, chances are you received accurate readings from genuine psychics.


Someone who doesn’t ask you questions is a good start, but not the only indicator of someone who is a good or accurate psychic. I have been to numerous well-meaning psychics, who received no information from me (I never give any) and they couldn’t read me at all. I really don’t believe it’s because I’m hard to read, as I’ve been told. I think this is an excuse.


I’ve done psychic readings for several who have claimed they heard this too; many of whom are psychics as well. Energy is energy. A psychic can either read your psychic energy or they can’t. If a psychic can’t read you at the onset (within 5 minutes), ask for a refund. If they are a good and ethical psychic, they will admit that they can’t connect at that time and they won’t mind giving you a refund.


Sometimes real psychics can’t connect to you in that moment, but can at a later date. This happens to me sometimes with my regular clients as well as some new clients. Although rare, it happens. With my regular clients, I can only assume the Universe has determined the time wasn’t right for either of us. With new clients, we might not be right for each other or they didn’t hear what they wanted to hear, in which case, I am definitely not the right person for them! Whichever the case, if this happens within the first 5 minutes, we reschedule for a different date/time or I happily give a refund.


There is no shame in not having a connection with your psychic in that moment or if you try with them again at another time—or not at all. The only problem is in paying good money to find out. To reduce this happening, try to see if they can connect to your past or something in your present within the first 5 minutes, without your giving any information. If they don’t connect to you, end the psychic reading and ask for a refund. A real and professional psychic would accept and understand this.