This commercial-free public web site offers edited information from HFOCA public protection staff including investigators Paul Hanson, Anne Star, David Merrell, and members of the GP Inquiry Group and WSA Public Protection Policy staff. Posted are the January 2012 results for psychic fees by category, and also recent performance and client rating results based on more than 11,200 psychic mediums, intuitives, and psychic detectives who claim --- but apparently lack --- paranormal abilities.
This web site is solely to protect and educate the public about the fees and claims of paranormal psychics and psychic mediums. We offer no services, sell nothing, do not endorse any businesses, and do not accept donations.
UPDATED JANUARY 17, 2012.
How much do psychics cost? What do psychic readings or psychic detective services cost? How can you evaluate and pick psychics that have scored higher in accuracy? How can you avoid psychics that have bad Better Business Bureau reports and high customer rejections?
This information is edited from the full 34-page December 17, 2011 report released by the HFOCA and provided to the G&P Inquiry Group. Unfortunately this latest report continues to show many serious problems with misleading psychic claims and performances.
The HFOCA is an agency involved in protecting the public across various businesses that have high levels of deception and fraud. The HFOCA participates with three other non-profit agencies in a joint North American and European program to consolidate psychic business and client reports. The HFOCA has also evaluated by under-cover means and through volunteer testing thousands of psychic servicers.
Since 2007 growing members of the international paranormal psychic community have endorsed this public evaluation and protection campaign. Approximately 92% of the highest scoring paranormal psychics, mediums, intuitives, and psychic detectives are now included. July 2010 marked the first period of reporting after 3 full years of evaluations and consolidated client reports, with now this third report in from data ending in December 2011.
Psychic fees and costs in both North America and Europe have continued to fall dramatically by more than 87% since fees in mid 2009. Fees fell more than 60% in 2010 and 2011 alone. Present charges for psychic fees average just 12% of the rates charged from 2004-2006 before HFOCA testing began. It is estimated the percentage of the public regularly paying for "psychic" consulting readings has declined by more than 90% since 2006.
The rates between a "psychic", an "intuitive", and a "psychic detective" should be based by performance, not their title. All psychic test score data indicates there is no difference in performance for those claiming special titles such as using "certified" or "professional". The latest data shows more than 96.2% of those using such titles are neither certified nor professionally recognized by the international PRCL Consortium or any of the other four credible testing institutes recognized by the HFOCA.
The typical psychic fee rates shown below cover a personal or legal/crime psychic reading for each of 3 psychic categories as described. While some psychics attempt to charge different rates depending on the concerns, U.S. HFOCA non-profit commercial business test results show that psychics displaying greater accuracy are quite capable of providing equal performance on all subject matters with no additional effort or "paranormal psychic distress" which appears to be a delusional claim.
Psychic and paranormal intuitive business fees and rates are typically uniform across the United States with the exception of Las Vegas, Orlando, Cherry Hills Village (Colorado), Sun Valley (Idaho), and Hillsborough (California) where rates for at least a dozen psychics/intuitives in those areas are typically 17% to 31% higher. In Canada some fees in the Vancouver and Toronto areas are typically 17% higher. European fees for similar performance servicers vary but generally by no more than 20%.
European and U.S. based psychics showed a significantly higher level of fraudulent claims and/or over-charged fees than did Canadian psychic servicers. For the U.S. this increased level was 16 times greater than for Canadian servicers of equivalent performance, and across Eastern Europe (particularly in the London, Amsterdam and Paris metro areas), and in Australia and New Zealand the fraudulent claim level rose an amazing 72% in 2011!
Use of a charge card by all buyers across North America and Europe is encouraged as psychic dealers or independent psychics who deal only in cash rank significantly higher on fraud concerns and also typically scored significantly less in accuracy.
CATEGORY 1
Covers a grade L4 or L5 level psychic/intuitive. (Level descriptions below). This level accounts for about 4% of all psychics/intuitives.
Level description: Rates charged by a well known and recognized national TV psychic, leading psychic author, or well known intuitive that offers a web site with 3 or more posted and signed documents from a public agency or public university for accurate parapsychology test results. Providers at this level typically have a minimum 4-year bachelor degree (BA/BS) in psychology with matching accredited PSI performance training with a posted diploma from a leading accredited university.
It is likely that an HFOCA tested performance score for servicers in this category is posted on their public web site and it should be above Grade L4. The test report score should also be from a test less than 14 months old. More than 85% of all psychics/intuitives in this category are aware of the HFOCA programs though a small minority attempt to confuse their clients about the program rather than participate. Grade L7 represents the highest accuracy level within this segment. Psychic providers at this level virtually always have a public web site posting all of their certifications, accredited degrees, dates of graduation, Better Business Bureau membership and current rating, and a current psychic industry PRCL Consortium membership seal of approval. They must have participated in one or more psychic tests offered since 2008 by the non-profit PRCL Consortium and/or an HFOCA assigned and accredited public non-profit agency. Such psychics/intuitive's also typically allow payment by two or three different major credit cards which typically reflects superior business practices and a better educated client base.
More than 96% of all psychics conducting business throughout North America, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Europe do not meet this Category 1 level covering the highest performance and evaluated psychics. If your psychic selection does not meet these requirements please see the next level below highlighted in brown.
The few psychic detectives in Category 1 have been confirmed as displaying on their public web site at least 5 State Police (or equivalent law enforcement agency levels in Canada and Europe) agency statements --- not simply statements by single officers --- which confirm and endorse their successful use by that public law enforcement agency. 43 of 50 U.S. State Police agencies provide this public information and a very select group (2 in North America, 3 across Western Europe) of psychic servicers have received and posted these endorsements. Do not be fooled by psychic detective claims that such public agency confirmations are not available and avoid psychic detectives who make such claims.
TYPICAL FEES FOR THIS LEVEL:One-on-one session in person at office or at public conference room: $40-$77 for full 60-minute session. Telephone reading fees at this same level are significantly lower at $30-$45 for a full 60-minute session. Recent test results continue to show no correlation between higher charge rates by psychics and improved performance. In fact in this latest analysis the most expensive psychics (representing an estimated percentage of less than 0.7% of all psychic/intuitive providers nationally) who charged typically $125 to $375 per hour all failed to meet L4-L7 levels, scoring S2, S4, and L1 --- all levels well below random chance in accuracy. Fees paid come with high levels of risk as less than 4% of all readings were deemed possibly accurate within a 2-year period of time even among the highest accuracy segment of paranormal psychic business participants.
Buyers are warned that psychic sessions of lengths less than 30 minutes have ranked low in performance accuracy and significantly higher in potential fraud. Many psychic/intuitive providers simply re-use the same verbiage they have memorized in short 10-20 sessions and the accuracy performance is currently 98.6% of the time actually less than random chance in accuracy. The highest and most accurate performance sessions lasted a minimum of 47 minutes and allowed the provider to better communicate and the purchaser to better identify whether the provider was "guessing" or simply "using a canned speech."
A standard tip rate for this category is $10-$15 if more than 7 points made by psychic were significantly accurate about already known prior events.
CATEGORY 2
Covers a grade L4 or L5 psychic/intuitive. (Descriptions below). This level accounts for about 24% of all psychics/intuitives.
Category 2 level description: Rates by a regional self-recognized psychic and/or one with just media reviews. Approximately 20% of those in this group still publicly display on their public web site a 4-year bachelor degree (BA/BS) in psychology from an accredited university.
Psychics/Intuitives failing to display or referencing an accredited university or college diploma should be asked for their educational level as generally higher levels of education match with better business practices and current data shows an 87% reduction in practitioner fraud among those with 4-year accredited degrees. The public should avoid using services offered by psychics/intuitives promoting “Psychic Angel” type "PhD" diplomas and certifications as HFOCA data indicates this segment of providers typically has the least paranormal accuracy rates and are also among the highest segment practioners of deception, particularly within the United States, India, Australia, and Great Britain.
Various "psychic PhD certifications" are available throughout North America and Europe by mail-order for less than $100 (USD) and such non-accredited test/certification programs lack credibility and do not follow HFOCA testing guidelines. HFOCA requirements state that psychic/intuitive test scores must be posted by the business psychic/intuitive on their public web site. For Category 2 these scores must be above L1 with the test results less than 14 months old.
This level participant virtually always has a public web site posting three or more testing certifications with the dates, but typically lacks signed and publicly posted recommendations from any law enforcement agency or local government office. While references are often provided they typically lack credibility as those cited have no training in evaluating actual paranormal abilities during controlled testing. Nor are simple names or initials able to be followed up for verifications. In attempting to follow up on the recommendations posted on more than 1500 web sites we found more than 94% of the sites included bogus references.
Psychics who have not been HFOCA tested typically use exaggerated claims as to their accuracy.
Within this Category 2 group more than 94% of all the psychic servicers currently allow client payments to be made on at least one major credit card (rather than just cash).
The use of credit cards typically matches with data indicating such business psychics/intuitive's score better on client survey evaluations and also have a significantly lower level of fraud reports. They also rank better on Better Business Bureau reports and in similar public justice/constable office concerns. Periods for such reports have been evaluated if publicly available within the last 3 years.
TYPICAL FEES FOR THIS LEVEL: One-on-one session in person at office or at public conference room: $27-$48 for full 60-minute session. For sessions lasting less than 20 minutes the rate should be $15 to $20, and users are warned that psychic sessions of lengths less than 47 minutes have ranked ranked low in performance accuracy and significantly higher in potential fraud. Standard tip $5 if more than 7 points made by psychic were significantly accurate about already known prior events. Telephone reading sessions (which tests show result in accuracy ratings dropping by more than 38%) should be priced lower at $20-$35 for a full 60-minute session. For psychic readings offered by phone lasting less than 47 minutes see the 'Grade S1 to S5' below. A standard tip rate is $5-$10 if more than 7 points made by psychic were significantly accurate about already known prior events.
CATEGORY 3 - EXTREME CAUTION ADVISED
Covers the lowest performance level psychics/intuitives scoring S1 to S5 and accounting for about 72% of personnel who claim paranormal psychic abilities. Current scoring and client reports suggest that those in this category typically offer services scoring less than random chance or at random chance levels. This group includes an extremely high rate (above 92%) of delusional and/or fraudulent paranormal servicer claims.
Level description: Rates by a "self-recognized" psychic and typically lacking an accredited 4-year degree, and unwilling to provide documents on their web sites of endorsements from public agencies or present their current Better Business Bureau complaint status. Few in this category post on their web sites any HFOCA testing references or a PRCL Consortium membership seal of approval. Typically the psychics/intuitives in this category are lacking publicly posted test results or have scores less than Grade S5 within the last full year. About 70% of the business psychics/intuitives at this level are either unaware or negligent in using HFOCA services. It is difficult to believe that after 3 years most business operators would be unaware of HFOCA procedures and public protections, and the public should not continue to support those not assisting the public in reducing psychic services fraud. Almost 94% of those with scores and evaluations in this level have 3-6 issues of major concern reported by prior clients and more than 73% in this category reference "bogus" non-accredited diplomas. Generally at the lowest level in performance accuracy (S1-S2) almost all within this category fail to predict even 0.8% better than random chance/guessing. About 64% allow charge card use for their services but user surveys show their forecasting performance failed for at least 2 years after the buyers obtained a psychic reading. Among client descriptions of "con artists" many were based in the S1-S4 level, though the term was used across all levels including L7.
TYPICAL FEES FOR THIS LEVEL: One-on-one session in person at office or at public conference room: $22-$30 for full 60-minute session. For this category of psychic/intuitive provider the HFOCA recommends users do NOT pay or use such providers. In this S1-S5 category not a single psychic/intuitive provider has been able to provide a reading even equal to random chance when the session lasted less than 40 minutes. Among those providing a reading lasting longer than 40 minutes the performance accuracy rate significantly improves across 100% of all the providers though none exceed random chance. A standard tip $5-$10 may be provided if more than 5 points made by psychic were significantly accurate about already known prior events. For telephone readings the maximum rate should be $10 to $15 for a full 60-minute session as the performance rates are very low and few meet even the most basic HFOCA requirements. Standard tip $5 if more than 5 points made by psychic were significantly accurate about already known prior events.
ALL INFO ABOVE WAS UPDATED JANUARY 12, 2011 AND IS PROVIDED FROM NON-PROFIT AND NON-COMMERCIAL HFOCA REPORTS. IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT BEFORE PAYMENT YOU ONLY USE PSYCHICS WHO EITHER POST THEIR BETTER BUSINESS REPORTS AND/OR PUBLIC AGENCY REPORTS AND/OR PARTICIPATE IN PARANORMAL PSYCHIC HFOCA TESTING AND SCORING. THERE IS LITTLE OR NO FINANCIAL COST FOR THESE SERVICES TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC AND THEY ARE WIDELY AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE PSYCHIC COMMUNITY IN BOTH THE U.S, CANADA, AND WESTERN EUROPE. BUSINESS PSYCHICS AND OTHER INTUITIVE BUSINESS OPERATORS PAY JUST $20 TO ANY NON-PROFIT HFOCA CENTERS TO PARTICIPATE IN SERVICES ELIMINATING PSYCHIC FRAUD. FOR TESTS AND FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT YOUR LOCAL PUBLIC ACCREDITED COLLEGE FOR DETAILS AND REFERENCE HFOCA GRANTS. THREE SITES HAVE BEGAN TESTING IN OCTOBER 2010 AND THE TESTING WAS ENLARGED TO INCLUDE PRELIMINARY ON-LINE TESTING IN EARLY 2011. CANDIDATES MAY BE ASKED TO SIGN A WAIVER NOT TO COMMENT ON ANY CONFIDENTIAL RESULTS ARISING FROM THE TESTING WHICH INCLUDES MULTIPLE VISUAL AND SENSE ANALYSIS COUPLED WITH HIGH-SPEED FINGER AND EYE RESPONSES, AND ALSO HEART BEAT PATTERNS MEASURED WHILE UNDER MEDICALLY SUPERVISED TESTING.
THE FIRST PARTICIPANTS ARE BEING SELECTED FROM AMONG 2-YEAR HFOCA MEMBERS, BUT SINCE MID 2011 CANDIDATES HAVE ALSO INCLUDED MEMBERS FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC. TESTING IS BEING CONDUCTED AT MAJOR PUBLIC UNIVERSITY LABS AT NO CHARGE DURING 4 THREE-HOUR SESSIONS. SELECTED PARTICIPANTS ARE PAID FOR THEIR TRAVEL, FOOD, LODGING, AND A $225 PER DAY INCREMENTAL ALLOWANCE IS BEING UNDERWRITTEN BY A PRIVATE SECTOR GRANT. PSYCHIC/INTUITVE PROVIDERS WHO QUESTION THE MERITS OF HFOCA POLICIES AND REGULATIONS SHOULD BE QUESTIONED AS TO WHAT ANTI-FRAUD SERVICES THEY ARE PROVIDING WITHIN THEIR COMMUNITIES TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC, AND WHAT SPECIFIC PUBLIC AGENCIES THEY HAVE WORKED WITH, INCLUDING THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU.