A Reminder about any Readers who try to Offer Readings in this Sub. Clues that the Reader may be a Scammer in any Sub.

[RicottaPuffs]

We did consider the idea of verifying readers in this sub, for a long time.

For many reasons, we have sent all readers to our sister sub, r/MediumReadings, along with those users making reading requests.

That allows this sub to be used for medium development and interaction which is so important to new and seasoned mediums who need to ask for ideas from their peers. This also allows the non-medium users to ask questions and to receive feedback from mediums.

To protect our users, here we decided to postpone verifying readers, and we do not allow advertisements in this sub, for a number of reasons. It is to protect you.

So when you reply to a post before we take it down, asking for a reading, it is your responsibility. We remove those posts as quickly as we can. The majority are made by users who do not bother to read the rules or who are new to reddit. Some are posted by users who do not care to follow the guidelines and while less common, I would not want a reading from a person who does not respect boundaries. Would you?

If the post does not say absolutely free, it will be removed. If the user posting it cannot be bothered to read the rules, how do you know they will respect you? Donations does not mean free.

1. A reader may be truly psychic and that reader may also be a scammer who takes the money of users, and, never does the reading. We have had one user do this under three different alts in the past. We have heard of a number of readers who have tried this in many subs. We can validate their ability. We cannot guarantee their honesty. We rely on reports and modmail from all of you.

We have had readers offer free readings and when the user messages or accepts the offer, there are restrictions or stipulations or situations such as “free for the first fifteen minutes”. Those were often reported to us. That is one reason we do not allow ads.

We are not responsible for readers who scam you on Etsy, Facebook or elsewhere on the web. We do appreciate hearing about those scammers.

Do not expect a reader who messages you and tells you that you are hexed, or cursed or in danger, to be anything other than a scammer looking for a steady source of income.

2. We cannot verify the extent of a reader’s accuracy. Reading is not 100% fact. Each reader is unique.

Please be careful of the information you give out to a reader. Identity theft and monetary theft are all too common.

A reader may ask your first name, or for a photograph, in order to connect. However, do not provide your full name, your birthday, your OWN photograph, an address and/or any banking information or credit card numbers.

Some scammers google you. Some google you or go to a people search engine. Be careful.

We cannot help you if you are scammed somewhere else and we are limited to banning the scammer from this sub, if we are able to determine scamming has occurred.

You are your best defense against theft and scamming. Take care. We do care. We can only do so much. Protect yourselves.

We know that those who are grieving are very vulnerable. Any person who would take advantage of that is not really who you want to trust with your information.

Good journeys to all.

Discussion

[Spiritual_Waltz3428]

Perfectly said—thank you for helping to protect the integrity of this place 🙂

I would also add for sitters to be wary of mediums who over-advertise their services. By that, I mean all or most of their posts/comments to others are thinly-veiled attempts of advertising themselves for monetary gain. I’ve seen it happen a ton of times on threads asking for a free reading.

Look not only into their reviews, but also their post history on Reddit. It’s helpful in figuring out if you vibe with their style of reading, too, when choosing a medium to work with.

[DellaRayTarot]

Thank you for posting! There have been times when I’ve accidentally posted about readings here instead of in the sister sub and it was refreshing to see how quickly it was removed. (Sorry about that btw) Also, if it feels like a scam, it probably is. If the reader is getting everything wrong, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a scam, just that we all have bad days and get our signals crossed, however you should never be made to pay for a reading that you were unhappy with. Unfortunately there are people out there willing to take advantage of those that are grieving so I would just add to always look at reviews! If they have no reviews available, and are not offering free readings for reviews first, this is a red flag for me.

[TheSaltyTarot]

This is why I’m okay with the current state of the Masquerade. Sure, it would be nice if the general public had more respect for working psychics — but that would also open the gates to hordes of scammers. I’m no a hurry to volunteer for scientific research because it would come dangerously close to legitimizing superstition.

[kauaiandancer]

Thanks for the reminders!