How Romanian Fortune Tellers Used Google To Fleece Victims

Hentes writes "The internet has made many things easier, but unfortunately this also includes crime: it seems that nowadays not even people wanting to know their future are safe from fraud. Two fortune tellers are being investigated, after the Romanian police uncovered that they have utilized some extraordinary help in their clairvoyant acts. The pair used information collected from internet search and social networks to gain the trust of their customers, claiming that they could see their personal data through their crystal ball. In some cases, they also used high-tech surveillance techniques such as hidden cameras and phone tapping. But they didn't stop at merely spying on their victims: their most bizarre case involved a scuba diver dressed as a monster." Nice to know that internet-based fraud isn't limited to motivational speakers with real-estate seminars and other get-rich-quick flim-flam.

Comments

It's a foregone conclusion

[xrayspx]

"it seems that nowadays not even people wanting to know their future are safe from fraud"

If you pay someone money and expect them to tell your future, you will never be safe from fraud. In fact, as your palm reading crystal adviser, I sense...fraud...in your future.

Re:It's a foregone conclusion

[Dexter Herbivore]

No fortune teller believes in their own powers...

You under estimate the power of self delusion.

Surprising how old the techniques are

[Grayhand]

Really it's just an update of what has been going on since at least the mid 1800s. Back then they would question friends and relatives and check newspapers and birth records. Even the diver isn't all that different from having some one dress up as a ghost or having a veil on a string dance around. People believe even lame gags because they want to believe. The internet like with most things just makes it quicker and easier.

Re:superstition and religion

[Barsteward]

There us no need to separate Superstition and religion, they are the same thing.