Scammers target Colorado psychics with large and loyal online followings
Some popular psychics in Colorado say they and their online followers are being victimized by scammers and law enforcement isn't taking them seriously.
Many practitioners of mysticism have large and loyal followings on social media platforms like Twitter, and they've become easy marks for fraudsters.
Sterling Moon, a Colorado medium who does tarot card readings, says several imposters a month are cloning her Instagram accounts and posing as her to reach her clients. She says they block her, follow her followers, and then solicit them for readings, something Moon says professional mediums simply don't do. She shared a direct message from one con artist that illustrates how they operate.
"Hi love," the message begins."Sending prayers and positive vibes to you. I read your name and felt a strong connection and think you might need a reading."
The account appears to be that of Sterling Moon with one obscure difference - Moon is spelled Mooon.
"Unfortunately I have to rely on people telling me the accounts are out there because I'm blocked and so I can't see them and a lot of people fall for these," says the real Sterling Moon.
Missy Rhysing - a medium and owner of Ritualcravt in Wheat Ridge - is also being targeted by the hustlers, "I generally have anywhere from five to a dozen scam accounts pretending to be the shop at one time."
She's now posted a scam alert on the front page of her Instagram to warn clients. She has more than 1,000 followers, "I wake up every day and have usually dozens of messages from our clientele saying this person reached out wanting a reading."
Rhysing says she's asked Instagram to shut down the fake accounts and got a message saying, "We've reviewed RitualCravt's account and found that it doesn't go against our Community Guidelines."
When she tried to contact the con artists herself, she says, it got even worse.
"I had one of them tell me that they're going to kill my dog. The last scammer I spoke to said he had scammed more than $10,000 out of my own clientele. It's hard for me to deal with that but then thinking about our clientele who we really love, and try to serve them the best that we can, to have them being scammed out of hard-earned money, especially at this time, is especially disheartening."
It's also illegal but, Moon says, those who have reported the scams to law enforcement aren't taken seriously. While she gets that there's a stigma around her business, she says that shouldn't mean criminals get a pass.
"We act with integrity and we care about what we do and we're important parts of our community and we're small business owners in Colorado and we deserve our rights to be upheld."
The fraudsters aren't just targeting psychics in Colorado but those across the country. A spokesperson for the Denver FBI office says she can't confirm or deny that the agency is investigating.
