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Miami Psychic
''Miami Psychic: Confessions of a Confidante'' is a 2006 memoir published by the Regan Books division of HarperCollins. The authors are listed as Regina Milbourne and Yvonne Carey-Lederer. Subject matter The book purports to be a true memoir about a psychic named Regina Milbourne, who used her supposed paranormal "gifts" to help many of Miami's least desirable element: drug dealers, thieves, murderers and pedophiles. Regina claims that she "comes clean" in the book, "divulging the unimaginable horrors and shocking confessions that she witnessed throughout her career". True identity of author Shortly after the book was published, the true identity of "Regina" was revealed to be Gina Marie Marks, who had a series of arrests and convictions in Florida for perpetrating psychic fraud over many years. Marks continued her criminal activity after the publishing of the book. In 2018, Marks was convicted of stealing more than $340,000 from five victims over three years using ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Regina Milbourne
Gina Marie Marks (born January 25, 1973) is an American psychic and convicted fraudster. Using the pseudonym of Regina Milbourne, she co-authored '' Miami Psychic: Confessions of a Confidante'', a memoir published by HarperCollins in 2006. In August 2018, Marks' career as a psychic con-artist, and the decade-long pursuit by detective Bob Nygaard to bring her to justice, were portrayed on an episode of the CBS series ''Pink Collar Crimes'' titled "The Psychic Didn't See Him Coming". In 2018 Marks pleaded guilty to defrauding five victims out of more than $340,000, but blamed her prosecution on racism against Romani people. In September 2018, she was sentenced to six years in prison. Criminal activity Marks has had numerous arrests and convictions in Florida for defrauding clients out of large sums of money while claiming to use psychic powers to help them: * In 2007, Marks pleaded no contest to grand theft charges related to an agreement to "cleanse souls" for a total ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlatan
A charlatan (also called a swindler or mountebank) is a person practicing quackery or a similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, power, fame, or other advantages through pretense or deception. Synonyms for ''charlatan'' include ''shyster'', ''quack'', or ''faker''. ''Quack'' is a reference to ''quackery'' or the practice of dubious medicine, including the sale of snake oil, or a person who does not have medical training who purports to provide medical services. Etymology The word comes from French '','' a seller of medicines who might advertise his presence with music and an outdoor stage show. The best known of the Parisian charlatans was Tabarin, whose skits and farces were influenced by ''commedia dell'arte'' inspired Molière. The word can also be traced to Spanish ', an indiscreetly talkative person, a ''chatterbox''. Ultimately, etymologists trace ''charlatan'' from either the Italian ', to chatter or prattle; or from ''Cerretano'', a resident of Cerreto, a vil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Memoirs
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2006 Non-fiction Books
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second smallest composite number, behind 4; its proper divisors are , and . Since 6 equals the sum of its proper divisors, it is a perfect number; 6 is the smallest of the perfect numbers. It is also the smallest Granville number, or \mathcal-perfect number. As a perfect number: *6 is related to the Mersenne prime 3, since . (The next perfect number is 28.) *6 is the only even perfect number that is not the sum of successive odd cubes. *6 is the root of the 6-aliquot tree, and is itself the aliquot sum of only one other number; the square number, . Six is the only number that is both the sum and the product of three consecutive positive numbers. Unrelated to 6's being a perfect number, a Golomb ruler of length 6 is a "perfect ruler". Six is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rose Mackenberg
Rose Mackenberg (July 10, 1892 – April 10, 1968) was an American investigator specializing in fraudulent psychic mediums, known for her association with Harry Houdini. She was chief of a team of undercover investigators who investigated mediums for Houdini in the 1920s. After Houdini's death she continued to investigate spiritualist fraud for over 20 years and was known as an expert on the subject. She testified in court cases and before Congress and was interviewed in national magazines and on television. Early life Mackenberg was born July 10, 1892, and lived in Brooklyn, New York City. In her early years she worked as a stenographer in a law office and as an investigator in New York City. She later reported that, in her early life, she had believed that psychics and fortunetellers really were able to communicate with spirits and foretell the future. Houdini's investigator In the early 1920s, Mackenberg was working on a case involving investment losses that had been ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romance Scam
A romance scam is a confidence trick involving feigning romantic intentions towards a victim, gaining the victim's affection, and then using that goodwill to get the victim to send money to the scammer under false pretenses or to commit fraud against the victim. Fraudulent acts may involve access to the victim's money, bank accounts, credit cards, passports, e-mail accounts, or national identification numbers; or forcing the victims to commit financial fraud on their behalf. These scams are often perpetrated by organized criminal gangs, who work together to take money from multiple victims at a time. More money is lost each year to romance scams than to similar internet scams, such as technical support scams. Stolen images Romance scammers create personal profiles using stolen photographs of attractive people for the purpose of asking others to contact them. This is often known as catfishing. Often photos of unknown African actresses will be used to lure the victim into beli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confessions Of A Conflicted Medium
Confessions are acknowledgements of facts by those who would have otherwise preferred to keep those facts hidden. Confessions may also refer to: Film, television, and radio * ''Confessions'' (1925 film), a British silent film * ''Confessions'' (2010 film), a Japanese film * ''The Confessions'' (film) (''Le confessioni''), a 2016 Italian film * Confessions series, a 1970s series of film adaptations of novels by Christopher Wood * "Confessions" (''Arrow''), a 2019 television episode * "Confessions" (''Breaking Bad''), a 2013 television episode * "Confessions" (''Roseanne''), a 1990 television episode * ''Confessions'' (radio programme), a British radio feature presented by Simon Mayo Literature * ''Confessions'' (Augustine), a 4th-century autobiographical work by St. Augustine of Hippo * ''Confession'' (Bakunin), an 1851 autobiographical work by Mikhail Bakunin * ''Confessions'' (Rousseau), a 1782–1789 autobiography by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * Confessions series, a 1970s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Confidence Tricks
Confidence tricks and scams are difficult to classify, because they change often and often contain elements of more than one type. Throughout this list, the perpetrator of the confidence trick is called the "con artist" or simply "artist", and the intended victim is the "mark". Particular scams are mainly directed toward elderly people, as they may be gullible and sometimes inexperienced or insecure, especially when the scam involves modern technology such as computers and the internet. This list should not be considered complete but covers the most common examples. Get-rich-quick schemes Get-rich-quick schemes are extremely varied; these include fake franchises, real estate "sure things", get-rich-quick books, wealth-building seminars, self-help gurus, sure-fire inventions, useless products, chain letters, fortune tellers, quack doctors, miracle pharmaceuticals, foreign exchange fraud, Nigerian money scams, fraudulent treasure hunts, and charms and talismans. Variations inc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Con Artists
This is a list of notable individuals who exploited confidence tricks. Born or active in the 17th century * William Chaloner (1650 – 1699): Serial counterfeiter and confidence trickster proven guilty by Sir Isaac Newton Born or active in the 18th century * Gregor MacGregor (1786–1845): Scottish con man who tried to attract investment and settlers for the non-existent country of "Poyais" * Jeanne of Valois-Saint-Rémy (1756-1791): Chief conspirator in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, which further tarnished the French royal family's already-poor reputation and, along with other causes, eventually led to the French Revolution Born or active in the 19th century * William Rockefeller Sr. (1810 - 1906): an American businessman, lumberman, herbalist, salesman, and con-artist. Two of his sons were Standard Oil co-founders John Davison Rockefeller Sr. and William Avery Rockefeller Jr. * George Appo (1856-1930): American fraudster, operated in New York and was involved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician Robert-Houdin (1805–1871). He first attracted notice in vaudeville in the United States and then as "Harry 'Handcuff' Houdini" on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed milk can with water in it. In 1904, thousands watched as he tried to escape from special handcuffs commissioned by London's ''Daily Mirror'', keeping them in suspense for an hour. Another stunt saw him buried alive and only just able to claw himself to the surface, emerging in a state of near-breakdown. While many suspected that these escapes were faked, Houdini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fortune Telling Fraud
Fortune telling fraud, also called the bujo or egg curse scam, is a type of confidence trick, based on a claim of secret or occult information. The basic feature of the scam involves diagnosing the victim (the "mark") with some sort of secret problem that only the grifter can detect or diagnose, and then charging the mark for ineffectual treatments. The archetypical grifter working the scam is a fortune teller who announces that the mark is suffering from a curse that their magic can relieve, while threatening dire consequences if the curse is not lifted. Method In this scam, a fortune teller uses cold reading to detect that a client is genuinely troubled rather than merely seeking entertainment; or is a gambler complaining of bad luck. The fortune teller informs the mark that they are the victim of a curse, but that for a fee a spell can be cast to remove the curse. In Romani, this trick is called , originally meaning simply "bag", but now meaning "a swindle involving a larg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flim-Flam!
''Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions'' is a 1980 book by magician and skeptic James Randi about paranormal, occult, and pseudoscience claims. The foreword is by science fiction author Isaac Asimov. Randi explores topics which he says that scientists and the media are too willing to promote without skepticism and proper expertise. Content Timothy Ferris wrote that ''Flim Flam!'' "will enlighten any reader who does not clearly understand that not one shard of evidence exists to prove that the Bermuda Triangle poses any special menace to ships and planes, that earth is being visited by alien spacecraft, that the unassisted power of the mind can read closed books, predict our future or induce levitation, or that the 'psychic surgeons' of the Philippines have relieved their patients of any burden more troublesome than their money." Randi levels criticism at the sloppy study designs and faulty controls of the investigations into remote viewing by Russe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
