'Psychics' scam two women for over 150 thousand euros in Latvia

Two women, having fallen for advertisements posted on the social networking site ‘Facebook’ which purported to offer the services of psychics, transferred a total of more than 150,000 euros to the fraudsters, the State Police reported on August 18.

Information available to the police indicates that, in both cases, the victims noticed advertisements on Facebook offering psychic services. In one case, the ‘psychic’ offered psychological help and a ritual to lift a curse, whilst in the other case, she promised to perform a magical ritual and sort out the victim’s personal life.

Both women, over an extended period whilst communicating with the fraudsters, transferred and handed over substantial sums of money – 118,000 euros and 39,000 euros respectively. In one instance, the victim not only transferred money to bank accounts but also, on the fraudsters’ instructions, placed the money in a parcel locker and handed it over to a courier.

Realising that the promised magical rituals had not produced the desired results, the victims attempted to contact the ‘psychics’ again, but received no further replies.

The State Police have initiated criminal proceedings regarding the incident on charges of fraud committed on a large scale. Such an offence is punishable by imprisonment for a term of between two and ten years, with or without confiscation of property, and with or without probation supervision for a period of up to three years.