Reader TTS

Talking about the upward creep, Nofziger blames anxiety triggered by the pandemic. “People are feeling very vulnerable and lost right now,” she says. “Some seek out a therapist or religious

adviser; some turn to a vice, like drinking, gambling or shopping; and some look to a psychic." Among recent complaints to the helpline: • A 54-year-old woman in Canada lost $24,000 to

a psychic who promised to connect her with a loved one. • A 73-year-old man in Washington state lost big bucks to a psychic in hopes of winning back an ex-girlfriend. The spiritualist not

only took his money but also had him charge expensive jewelry that he gave the psychic to present to the man's lost love. The woman never got the gifts, nor did she reconcile with him.

Now practically broke, he's saddled with the credit card bills for the jewelry. • A 72-year-old woman in Seattle gave $20,000 to a psychic for information about a new relationship. When

she complained to the police, they refused to follow up on her case, she says. HUNTING THEM DOWN Bob Nygaard, private investigator Courtesy of Bob Nygaard Many in law enforcement don't

take psychic scams seriously, says Bob Nygaard, a private investigator based in Boca Raton, Florida. After 21 years as a cop, he built a second career hunting down the fraudulent

fortune-tellers who he says exploit vulnerable people. Nygaard, 53, retired in 2007 after serving with the New York City Transit Police Department and the Nassau County (New York) Police

Department. His investigations have led to numerous prosecutions — and media appearances — and he says he's been able to recover considerable sums for some victims. Being defrauded by a

spiritualist isn't a matter of losing cash after paying for a legitimate service; typically, these are cases of theft by false pretenses, Nygaard says. And fraudsters rarely use the

money they rake in toward the work they tell patrons they will do. Calling the offenders part of “nontraditional organized crime families,” he says they buy exotic cars, dine in fancy

restaurants and take pricey vacations with their windfalls. It all happens amid their outlandish claims: You'll be cured of cancer. Or your child will recover from autism. You'll 

win the lottery. Or you'll collect an inheritance. Or your lost love will reemerge. People seeking assistance from spiritualists generally are motivated by fears about money, health or

love, according to Nygaard, who says hot spots for such frauds include New York, New Jersey, Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts and Texas. PSYCHIC NETS $3.5 MILLION One notorious

case involved an older, wealthy woman in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, who, while suffering from dementia, lost $3.5 million to a purported psychic, court documents show. The two

were an odd couple: The victim earned degrees from Radcliffe and Harvard, and the psychic had only a second-grade education. Nygaard did not probe that case, but when the psychic was being

prosecuted in 2018, he was asked to provide a sworn, written statement to the court to detail the warning signs of fortune-telling fraud cases. Fake fortune-tellers “often engage in

emotional extortion,” he wrote.