24 September 2015

A Warning about Gail Cuffe aka Psychic123UKreadings

The following article was sent to me, the author wishes to remain anonymous due to the aggressive nature of the psychic being talked about, as such you can direct all your abuse to me on Twitter @JonDonnis Please enjoy my little disclaimer below, as we all know how much these psychics like to use Disclaimers!


DISCLAIMER:
The following article is the opinion of the author and may not correspond with the opinions of BadPsychics.com

This article is for Entertainment purposes only, and/or for scientific experimentation


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Regular readers of Bad Psychics might remember the article that was published some time ago about Deborah Davies (Higgins).

Well, in summer 2013, a curious post appeared on Ms Davies’s Facebook page:


Leaving aside the issue as to why one psychic would need to consult another, it’s fair to say that any such recommendation from Deborah Davies should be treated with caution - given her own track record. Indeed, Deborah Davies and Gail Cuffe (the owner of Psychic123UKreadings) seem to have a lot in common. Both come from the Stockport area, both run Facebook pages with around 150,000 followers, and both have given readings that are less-than-convincing.


As an example, let’s take this reading which appeared on Ms Cuffe’s Facebook page recently:

If you can get past the spelling mistakes and lack of punctuation, you can see that this reading is nothing more than a load of vague waffle. It is so general that it could apply to anyone or anything.

1.    Most of us will have some sort of ambition that we have yet to fulfil.

2.    January is usually a financially difficult time for all of us, especially following the expensive Christmas/New Year period.

3.    The number 9 and a man with the same initial (in this case “J”) are so common that they’re meaningless. The number 9 crops up in everything from shoe sizes to barcodes to telephone numbers, while I can think of at least ten people I know whose first name begins with “J”. 


A closer look into Ms Cuffe’s record as a psychic reveals further inconsistencies. For example, she likes to state that she has over 25 years’ experience. This is a little odd for someone who is only in her early/mid forties. Especially since she has claimed this in 2012, 2013, 2014 and in August of this year - as this screenshot shows:




Incidentally, the aggressive message from her on the bottom right was in response to an observation that despite allegedly having 25 years’ experience, she only set up a limited company a year ago and has not yet submitted returns for it - as the DueDil website indicates.



After her message was made public to allow her to clarify her own business situation, it was followed up by another belligerent missive:


Now, please note the first few lines. If she really had psychic powers, wouldn’t she know who was behind the page? 

This aggression is nothing new for her. The earliest verified trace of Ms Cuffe dates back to 2005, when she started selling readings via eBay. She did this until about 2012, when eBay banned the sale of psychic/paranormal goods and services.  Her main line involved making pregnancy predictions and casting magic spells - purportedly to bring the customer luck, fertility, and fortune.


This appealed to a lot of women who were trying for a baby - some of them quite desperately. Ms Cuffe soon gained a reputation among the prospective parents, but it was not altogether positive. If a customer wasn’t happy with Ms Cuffe’s service, she would respond in a rude and unprofessional manner:


This was picked up on various forums and people began sharing their experiences of her. It was alleged that Ms Cuffe’s actions went beyond leaving rude responses on eBay. Here are a few examples, the first of which is taken from this forum here.



Another customer claimed that she had actually received abuse, threats and even a curse from Ms Cuffe, after simply enquiring politely whether she had received the wrong reading.



While yet another customer got an extremely foul-mouthed response from Ms Cuffe after questioning whether she lived in the UK. 


As if this wasn’t enough, people also started to compare the readings that Ms Cuffe sent them - and discovered that they were similar or identical.


As we can see from the excerpt of this reading, it is like a horoscope. Again, like the other reading above, there’s nothing specific about it. It’s just a lot of waffling generalisation about someone who is strong and determined, but who can feel “down” on occasion. I’m pretty certain that we all know someone who falls into that category - if it doesn’t apply to us personally.

As for how Ms Cuffe responded when complaints were put to her, the indications are that she simply carried on in her aggressive manner - occasionally by threatening to sue the other people or by getting her followers to report any negative Facebook posts about her.


This is where the story gets interesting, though. After Ms Cuffe was no longer able to sell her psychic services via eBay, she moved her business to her Facebook page. Perhaps inspired by her then-friend Deborah Davies, she gained a huge number of “likes” by heavily advertising psychic readings or spell casting - sometimes for free and/or at discounted prices. However, by continuing to run her business in a less-than-professional manner, the customer queries started to pile up.

And unfortunately for her, some of her customers then started to mix her up with Deborah Davies!

This came to a head when Ms Cuffe started offering “magic spells”. The deal was that the customers would send Ms Cuffe money and in return, Ms Cuffe would cast a magic spell to bring them love, fertility, fortune, etc. After she had cast her spell, she would send them an e-mail containing one word - which they then had to chant in order to activate this spell. 


Sadly, there were several people who did believe this. When the spells either didn’t work or they never got the e-mail from Ms Cuffe with the “magic activation word”, Ms Davies suddenly found herself inundated with e-mails. As you can imagine, she wasn’t too pleased:



And after that, it became pretty clear that the friendship between Ms Davies and Ms Cuffe was over. Despite once championing Ms Cuffe as “the only medium" she would recommend, Ms Davies then decided to “out" Ms Cuffe in January this year.


There is a supreme irony in Deborah Davies criticising Gail Cuffe for sending identical readings - because she has been accused of doing exactly the same thing herself! Do check the earlier article about her (linked to here), where Ms Davies effectively admitted giving out duplicates and then tried to blame it on the customers picking the same cards.

However, that aside, we should not forget that there appear to be vulnerable people out there who have been genuinely hurt by the actions of Ms Cuffe. It should be mentioned that statistically, most women who try for a baby manage it within a year. However, for those who don’t, it can be absolutely devastating. The desperation to conceive a child then leads them to consult psychics - even though this may seem like a daft idea afterwards.


Just see this one comment as an example:



Of course, you are all free to make your own mind up about Ms Cuffe. However, if only for what allegedly happened to the last woman alone, I would strongly advise avoiding her like the plague.


29 comments:

Perseus said...

Love your work, Jon.

What floors me is how people can be so gullible in the first place. I'd like to be able to put my finger on how this happens... bad education? Religion opening up the 'supernatural' pores, leading to a belief that this stuff is possible? Trauma? Poverty? Mental illness? But from all my reading I just can't pinpoint any one thing. Gullibility, particularly to psychics / reiki masters / astrology / woo in general seems to appear at every intersection within a society. I'm blaming religion (with no data on my side - it's a hunch) but I wish there was some serious study on this because the suffering can be high, and the financial cost can be mind blowing (a friend's father with early onset dementia blew his entire life's savings on an 'over the phone' medium). There's an economic as well as social / intellectual costs.

I love how you are exposing the psychics, but I also want to grab their victims by the collar, shake them and say, "What were you thinking?"

JD said...

I guess this site is my way of grabbing the believers by the collar and saying what are you thinking

Clara Belle said...

A comment from my sister -
I was in a vulnerable state when I was in touch with this woman. I paid for something. When I received it it was an empty bag. I emailed her and she called me a liar. I was pregnant at the time. She accused me of trying to rip her off (for a fiver). She did eventually promise me a refund and then told me I was a liar for asking for it because she never would have. I told her her customer service was deplorable. And she said I clearly was wrong because her 150,000 follows thought differently.

JD said...

Well not surprised she had a bad experience.
Couple of notes the 150,000 followers she has were built in a number of ways, many are fake accounts, and when she started she just offered free readings and so on, so that is always an easy way to get the numbers up.

I hope your sister has learnt her lesson, and now accepts that psychics and mediums do not see the future or communicate with the dead.

Please tell her to avoid all contact with such people, and if she fails that, to contact me for advice for how to get her money back

Anonymous said...

I hope your sister doesn't blame herself too much. If people are feeling vulnerable or desperate (particularly where things like pregnancies are concerned), then they end up trying things that they wouldn't do under normal circumstances. The person to blame here is Psychic123 for preying on these vulnerable people and messing with their emotions.

The more I hear about Gail Cuffe and her treatment of customers, the more disgusted I am by her!

Unknown said...

This evil trickster needs locking up.

Sweetsammyjo87 said...

GAIL is a vile woman who has no heart. I ordered a reading and believed her hype basically I was inboxed from other members askin if I had my reading and if they could send there's as other members had recieved the same reading as her. So I agreed and word for word my reading was the same. The same spirits came through lol. I messaged her and she called myself and other members liars even tho I sent her the proof that I wasn't the only member who recieved the same message. She got very aggressive and vile. She needs shutting down.

JD said...

Ok, so we accept this woman is a fraud, but you didn't know she was a fraud til AFTER you compared your reading with someone elses, and saw they were the same.
So up until then you thought she was a legit.

Does this tell you anything?

ALL Mediums are frauds, every single one of them, and not all of us can know the tricks, I am one of those people who does know all the tricks.

So take it from me, save your money, and never waste a penny on these frauds again, at least that way you have gained from your bad experience, by learning a lesson.

Unknown said...

I have never found Gail to be rude and her points are very valid. This post is just a load of rubbish from a jealous person I am afraid.

JD said...

Nope, not jealous at all.
In fact if you join my forum http://moh2005.proboards.com
Post any reading from any psychic in the world, including Gail, and I will give you a 100% guarantee I can show you step by step how they do it, and if I cant I will close this site down.

I am willing to back up everything I say.

Also please understand libel laws, if I call someone a fraud, and I am lying, they can sue me. Gail Cuffe does NOT speak to the dead, it is a trick, it is in her own words "for entertainment only" If you believe she is legit, then you are a fool.

Prove me wrong. Show me a reading I cant explain.

Clara Belle said...

So, because you personally have never has any problems then everything is this is a load of rubbish? That's not how the world works

JD said...

Trying to translate this terrible English.

Again I am happy to back up everything I say, go to my forum, challenge me to expose ANY psychic, and if I fail, I will close the site down.

Adrian Heath said...

I have been a skeptic and opponent of mediums and all things psychic for 30 years and while sympathetic to those who have been conned by these individuals there has always been a little part of me that just didn't understand how they could be silly enough to fall for it. That all changed in June this year.when I lost my beloved father (we were extremely close). I found myself frequently and wistfully wishing there was some kind of supernatural realm, thankfully the 30 years of skepticism was enough to bring me to my senses but it has given me a new appreciation of just how vulnerable and suggestible grief can make you. I now have not only sympathy for those conned by mediums and psychics but a sense of empathy and understanding of how it can occur which makes me appreciate what Jon and badpsychics is trying to do, its a thankless never ending task filled with abuse and constant mind numbingly boring repetition of refutation to the same old tired hackneyed arguments put forward by both the con artists themselves and their sycophantic supporters but it is vital work and I am so grateful to Jon for doing it. I am now filled with a terrible resolve to be more active and to fight this menace less passively, it is I believe insufficient that mediums and psychics can cop out with an entertainment disclaimer, like increased warnings on cigarette packaging the disclaimer should include links to proper bereavement counselling organizations and a notice specifically stating that there is no scientific evidence to support psychic phenomena or mediumship. Thanks once again Jon all the best Adrian.

JD said...

Hi Adrian
Thanks for the kind words of support, I appreciate them.
If you ever feel the need to get things off your chest, I would be happy to consider posting an article written by you.
Perhaps you could go into details of your own experiences and how the death of your father allowed you to understand better how vunerable people can become in such a position, and how despite being a skeptic of 30 years it gave you a new understanding. I think a details look at your experiences would be an interesting read.

Let me know if you are interested and I will tell you how to proceed.

Thanks
Jon

Adrian Heath said...

Thanks Jon I would be most happy to oblige however currently my only internet connection is by mobile phone which makes it a real pain to type clearly and compose documents. Once that situation is resolved I will be in touch. Regards Adrian

JD said...

Cool, I look forward to hearing from you in the future

Anonymous said...

I think Clara Belle's comment was directed toward Lisa Traber - i.e. that just because Lisa hasn't had a bad experience with Gail, it doesn't mean that nobody else has.

To Lisa, I say this. Why would any of us be jealous? None of us work as psychics. In fact, we spend our time exposing psychics to try and stop them ripping off vulnerable people.

Or do you think it is acceptable to take money off women who are desperate to conceive a baby, give them false hope, and then bombard them with abuse afterwards?

Clara Belle said...

Yes, fried-mahooga is right. I apologise for how badly I had written that message - I didn't notice until now :)

Mj3 said...

Gail Cuffe is sill ripping people off. How her page still remains on fb is amazing. Close her down!

JD said...

All we can do is make people awar of her scam.
Sadly there will always be victims

Gemini said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gemini said...

She’s still at it! Day after day putting finance spells up and power words and so many folk buy them! And if you dare question anything you get blocked from her page and if you email you get abuse, She’s such a horrible nasty woman I hope one day she is brought down

Gemini said...

Also meant to say her daughters doing it too she has a page candles and cauldrens and selling finance spells and stones she goes by the name Hayley cuffe

Nick nock said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Nick nock said...

I also ordered a finance spell Halloween.feel daft now but won't be doing it again only one who gaining finance boost is Gail's bank balance by sounds of it.

Anonymous said...

Shes still going to this day

Unknown said...

I had a reading from Gail and she seemed to get my story right but you don’t really need to be psychic when you’ve got access to someone’s Facebook account do you? Anyway about a year later I ordered another reading. She copied and pasted the first reading that she sent me, even forgetting to change the dates as it was a year later. Out of curiosity I ordered a third reading because it was only £3 just to see what would happen. Again copy and paste!! Identical to the other 2 readings. I messaged her for an explanation and she ignored me. Usually she gets really nasty with customers who question her authenticity. I suppose she didn’t have anything to say cos I had the proof. She is such a scammer. I can’t believe she is still getting away with it

JD said...

So other than repeatedly giving her money what have you done?
How did you pay? If by PayPal have you opened a claim with them? Have you reported her to trading standards?

Do you accept you've been a fool, learned your lesson and promise to never waste a penny on psychics again?

Don't just post on here, do something for if you do nothing she'll keep scamming people.

Unknown said...

Fantastic site this. Just come across it and whilst I am a non believer and do not understand how people could believe such rubbish I do understand grief and sadness of loosing a loved one. It is great that you do what you do. Much respect.

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