Fraud or Fake

Author’s note – this author lost her voice and was unable to speak directly to anyone this week. This piece is done from previous research and memory of conversations. Some of the opinions may be those of the author after talking to numerous people.

There has been much discussion amongst the paranormal community about fakers and fraud. Teams have been sued by other teams or team members. Then there are those teams touting the why can’t we all be friends and share with each other while lambasting other teams and individuals in the same breath. This article is not about getting along, although that might be nice. It’s about the fact that it might be a good thing to be somewhat skeptical when talking to an individual about possible activity in their home, public place or business.

Anyone interested in what the paranormal community is saying about this just has to Google paranormal frauds and they will come up with nearly 6,000,000 results in seconds. There are individuals calling themselves doctors. In many states all you have to do is use the word doctor and have others believe you are just that to commit a felony. Others may hold themselves to be inventors of equipment that can be applied to the paranormal field. That is until the true scientists and researchers within the paranormal realm begin asking too many questions. That’s when some of these individuals tend to fade away. There are a few sites to check every now and then such as SciFake to keep up with possible allegations of “things may not be as they seem.” There is an interesting article Burden of Proof that discusses where the burden lies, with the skeptic or the believers. While this may not cover fakers and fraud, it does apply to this as well. In fact, there are a lot of good article on About.com regarding almost everything paranormal.

But then there are some even worse. They are real criminals and should be charged with a criminal offense. A recent conversation with another investigator centered on a paranormal group that was new and turned out to be not so interested in the paranormal. When they were contacted by individuals with questions or asking for help they would set up an investigation time the same as most groups. They would arrive at the home without plans to do an investigation. When they made contact with the homeowner they had the stipulation that they could not conduct an investigation with the homeowner present. Once the homeowner left, they would steal items from the home. One would think this couldn’t last too long as it would be fairly easy to track them down. That is if they use their real names and so on and if the homeowner is not too embarrassed to make a report. It’s a good idea for the individual contacting a group to be sure and take some time to do their due diligence search on the group and maybe even the founder. Most groups are legitimate and won’t be offended if the caller asks questions or even for references. After all, it is their home and they are asking strangers to come for the evening.

One woman who decided she had demons in her home set out to find the quickest way she could find to get rid of them. She contacted a group near her home and they responded quickly because she has a child in the home. When this group arrived for the interview they were told activity picked up the night she followed some instructions she received. The instructions were to use anointing oil in various places, say certain prayers, write something on a piece of paper and sleep with it under her pillow. Then the first thing she was to do the following morning was to put the paper, along with money, into an envelope so the person receiving it could pray for them and make everything go away. The group advised this was a scam and arranged to conduct an investigation several days later. Before the investigation, the woman called the group and told them she had two men come to the house, but wasn’t able to explain where she found them, and they had come to cleanse her house, telling her not to have the group come over. While the two unknown men were at the residence so was the woman’s daughter. The men started their cleansing and put oils on a variety of places within the home. Then they had the woman in her bedroom and told her to disrobe so they could “cleanse” her. They said this would have applied to her daughter if she was 12, she was 11. The scary part is what might have happened, especially if her daughter had not been present. The woman refused and then the men demanded money for their so called “free” home cleansing. She said she did not have any money and promised to send them some in a few days and they left. The group counseled her about scan artists and the dangers of allowing just anyone into her home. It was such a concern the group tried to get information from her regarding the men. They wanted to report this to police. She didn’t want to give out the information and said she was still sending them the money even though it was a cam because she had promised to do so.

It’s a shame there are individuals out there who are willing to do anything to have their 15 minutes of fame or to just have fun at another person’s expense. This can cause all kinds of problems from a real situation getting worse along with even more distrust of the paranormal community in general. While the paranormal community may not ever get rid of the fakers by working together cohesively they may make a dent and help the scientific community one day accept more of the data.

There are pages on FaceBook like Stop Paranormal Bullying and one Paranormal Fraud Awareness. Both have missions to expose fraud. You can find the same on Twitter. These can be good places to obtain current information about information you may not know regarding current scamming trends. Just like it is important to remember when watching TV paranormal shows that they are for entertainment purposes only. They are not always the best place to learn how to conduct a proper paranormal investigation just like the TV show COPS is not the place to learn how to be a good officer. Individuals who are interested in the paranormal field should try to connect with some good and experienced paranormal researchers, groups or investigators willing to take the time to mentor. By taking the time to do this the experienced will help educate and alleviate some of the misconceptions in the field. The experienced might consider themselves the village and take it from there, which is better than creating the Paranormal Police.

There are several important things to remember when talking with or locating someone to help you with possible unexplained activity in your home:
There is no such thing as a guaranteed removal of activity. It’s not like buying that guaranteed used car. The science is not exact.
The group you call should not charge a penny to help. If they do, beware and call another group.
Ask how long they have been around and what kind of experience members in the group have with the paranormal. Legitimate groups won’t be offended.
If an individual used doctor in their name ask where they went to school.
If a group requires you to leave your home and you don’t want to, don’t. An honest group will probably want you nearby in case they have questions during their investigation. Be suspicious if they say they will only come if you leave.
Most groups will ask you to sign a release. That’s standard practice. Just remember it is your house and you do not have to have the information released to the public. Most legitimate groups give you the homeowner the choice to decide how much if anything is made public then you have people come on different ghost websites putting up evidence that they catch every single day lol most paranormal groups it takes weeks or months to find real evidence so for the ones that are out there doing this were watching you .

A very good thread.

To be sure, there are those that call themselves "experts". I haven't heard of the doctor title; although it's a common practice for the uneducated sheep in religious gatherings.

You already got the ball rolling with "They might be a fraud if"... I think we could expound on that, without mentioning specific people or shows; to give an honest opinion of a particular practice that we think is "questionable".

I can say that after being in the church for 20 years the whole idea of "anointing oil" is questionable at best. It sells well among those who believe whatever the "chosen one" behind the pulpit tells them.

its unfortunate that there are people who choose to victimize people in all area's they see fear or desperation and they go for them.

I think its important for people to try to protect those that are or can potentially be at risk for this, and it really disturbs me that people do these types of things, but as the world runs there are parasites everywhere.

Not being of a criminal mind it never occurred to me that it was even possible for people to start a 'paranormal investigation' group with the intention of stealing from people. WOW! What an eye-opener.

Thank you for this article/post. Very interesting.

Charlatans

Peek-A-Boo wrote:


Another word comes to mind for me [dealt with them on many ocassions] but I know you're trying to keep the "G" rating. Lol.

need to call Quackwatch

The problem is not that these are paranormal investigators gone bad, it is that they are crooks, plain and simple, that have lurked into our neck of the woods, so to speak, so now we are aware of them. Crooks like this are out to prey on the weak, weary, ignorant and desperate--it doesn't matter what the industry is. Crooks are everywhere. One doesn't have to look further than the state of our own banking industry and stock market to see that. If you can get someone in a position of fear, add an unknown variable, whether it be money or security, and they become vulnerable. The paranormal realm just happens to be new, trendy, and something people have less control over than their money. I'm sure if you looked around review websites like Angie's List you would find plenty of accounts of the plumber, electrician, contractor, etc that either stole something, didn't do what they were paid to do, or just did a horrible job.

Now do I see Angie's List or Yelp having a Paranormal section ever---eh, maybe? Maybe that's a function that GnH and other sites like ours will serve in the future. We already have a directory, so that is a start. Just got to keep building it up from there, getting more names and reviews together. And hopefully in the meantime these DBs don't ruin it for everyone.

Actually I was having this conversation with a few people about the Angie's List style paranormal service. But it would have to integrate with the management system for it to work. So as part of the process of finding leads, interviews, investigation, reveal, followup, and then feedback. It would be a natural progression for clients.

As for the Paranormal community and frauds, and crime. You know you see it in every sector of humanity. Its an unfortunate fact of life. Whenever you get something that becomes popular or gains value, you will find those who use that popularity to exploit others.

I live in the southeast, so I've seen it many times. Here in Florida you have a combination of people exploiting the needs of senior citizens. Whenever you have a group of individuals who are down and out, and in need of help. To the point of desperation, and they still have some money left. You will find that element of society who have no morality, and who will exploit them for their own personal gains.

The same held true with the hurricanes in Florida. There were the families who needed help to rebuild, put roofs on the homes, and help out. And there were those who took it on themselves to act as contractors, take the money and then run!

Same thing happened in New Orleans after Katrina. There were those who looted and exploited others. Its so sad that some would do this, but it happens. Those who believe in Karma hold that as a answer to the problem. But whatever the answer, or if there really is and answer... The only thing we can really do, is to make a bigger and better effort to build our resolve to make our own efforts as good as they can be.

The age old adage, be part of the solution not the problem. I would hope that we can all come together and put forth a strong front. We don't all have to believe the same, we don't all even have to walk the exact same path. As long as we all end up in same place, and help all those along the path... I think we've done the best we can.

Be part of the solution...

...not the problem.

everyday we are told "never allow anyone in your home without knowing who they are, check them out" we tell our kids "don't open the door to strangers".