Miss Cleo Breaks
Silence On Fraud Case
Harris
Claims She Was Victim Too
The
television psychic known as Miss Cleo, who was driven
off the airwaves by state and federal fraud charges,
was back on the air Wednesday, but she wasn't there
to predict the future. Instead, she was attempting to
clear her name. The Jamaican accented fortuneteller,
whose real name is Youree Dell Harris, talked for the
first time about the court cases with radio
personalities Kenny and Footy on station Y-100's
morning show. (More)
-See Lightning Expose Below-
1-28-2002
Miss Cleo's
San Antonio Connection
Express News
Classified Ad Could Help You Become A Professional
Psychic In Just 10 Minutes
RG Griffing, SAL Staff
Copyright 2002 By
SanAntonioLightning.Com
Part One: How
The Hustle Works
Everyone knows
Miss Cleo.......
Like Santa
Claus, she is omniscient and omnipresent. But unlike
the jolly old man, she can come into your home all
year 'round, either by telephone or television; and
in just 30 minutes she can leave with about $150 of
your money. Or more.
Now Miss Cleo
is recruiting "psychics" in the San Antonio
area, through the city classifieds of the San Antonio
Express News.
GOOD
TALKERS wanted for busy Psychic line in S.A.
choose own hrs. Start $10hr+ bonus 504-410-1999
(Express News Classified-1/27/2002)
We called the
number listed in the Express, posing as a job seeker.
We spoke with Victor Shokes in New Orleans. He
identifies himself as National Sales Manager of
Psychic Readers Network, one of a number of firms
that market Miss Cleo nationwide.
Here is what
he tells prospective workers:
If you don't
know how to read tarot cards, he will sell you a
computer program that will generate
"readings" automatically.
He confirms
that the name of the game is to keep callers on the
line for as long as possible, because the charge is
almost $5 per minute. The calls are sent to the
psychics by way of a central receiving station in
Omaha.
"Let's
put it this way...If you're taking every call, and
they're lasting five to ten minutes...you will be
canned," Shokes says bluntly. "I don't have
anyone working for me with less than a 25 minute
average (per contact). "
The inbound
telephone calls are taken by an 800 number
switchboard, which then gives the customer a 900
number to call.
To be
successful, all you, as a psychic, need is a phone
and a tongue and a sucker on the other end of the
line.
There is a
mandatory orientation procedure given by the company.
It doesn't take very long.
"It takes
10 minutes. At the end of the 10 minutes of
orientation, you're not only ready to work, it's a
requirement to start immediately," Shokes
explained.
Besides the
promised $10 per hour, psychics receive what Shokes
calls a "hefty" bonus, which he claims can
run into hundreds of dollars per week.
Shokes
promises plenty of action. Miss Cleo's ads run
virtually non stop around the clock. And not just
Miss Cleo. Other psychic hotlines are out there, too.
But if the name is different, the face behind the
mask is still the same.
"We're
all of 'em (psychic commercials) on TV...every one
you see on TV...is us...we are the
cornerstone...there is no other competition,"
Shokes claims.
Is this a
legal enterprise? Depends on who you ask.
But Miss Cleo
has left a wake of hundreds of complaints and
lawsuits. The judgments that her company has been
forced to pay by various Attorneys General across the
US are simply the price of doing business in a hustle
that brings in an estimated $400,000,000 per year.
Just who is
Miss Cleo, and what are the forces behind her?
Click Here For Part
Two:
Call
Me Now. Pay Me Later!
* * *
