United States: Authorities to clamp down on bogus fortune-tellers
Generation of visitors to San Francisco – whether or not they had flowers in their hair – have long been entranced by the city’s many fortune-tellers and tarot card readers. Now the city’s authorities have wisely decided that many of the so-called “mystics” are in fact no more than rip-off merchants and has launched a crackdown aimed at protecting the city’s more gullible visitors and residents. The Independent reports that the San Francisco fraud squad has identified “fortune-telling” sessions prices at £300 a go, with tales of people being duped into handing over much larger sums of cash. Scams reportedly include the “mystic” asking the client to spit into a glass of water, and secretly adding food colouring to the water to simulate blood. The city council is now proposing a law that will require all “mystics” to apply for a licence, make their rates public and publish their phone number – in case of complaints.
