![A psychic-reader storefront.](https://media.wnyc.org/i/800/0/c/85/1/psychic_flickr.jpg)
Fortune-telling is technically a crime in New York, but “psychics” often evade the courts—and sometimes disappear with tens of thousands of dollars. Hilary George-Parkin, contributor to The Atlantic, explains what goes on behind the beaded curtains of New York’s storefront psychics in her latest piece for the magazine. She is joined by private investigator Bob Nygaard, who has successfully prosecuted several of these psychics and has even put a few behind bars.
At around 6:30, Ellen in Manhattan called in to share her family's story of dealing with psychics and fraud:
"I am going tonight to a court in Brooklyn to meet with a bankruptcy attorney because my daughter is in the tune of $24,000 in debt to psychics, which she apparently – I do not fully understand how this has happened – was on the phone daily with them."