Does anyone remember if disgraced Psychic Browne was ever feautured on UM? SHe is the psychic who said Shawn Hornbeck was dead on the Montel Williams show. THe psychic also stated that a hispanic male with dreadlocks did the killing. To add more insult, she wanted to charge the family $700 a half hour to help find the body.

Does anyone remember if disgraced Psychic Browne was ever feautured on UM? SHe is the psychic who said Shawn Hornbeck was dead on the Montel Williams show. THe psychic also stated that a hispanic male with dreadlocks did the killing. To add more insult, she wanted to charge the family $700 a half hour to help find the body.

I certainly hope they didn't as UM would have taken a huge credibility hit if they profiled her. I really don't think they ever did though, thankfully.

Actually, yes, Sylvia Browne was featured on a Ghosts epsiode which is on the 4-DVD collection. She is on the segment entitled The Blue Lady or something like that about a mysterious "blue lady" who supposedly haunts a Bay Area distillery.

Ms. Browne comes up with the name of a woman who died in the 20s saying that she was killed by blows to her head and chest; employees actually found a woman killed nearby in the 1920s by the name (Mary Anne Morley if I remember correctly). She also later held a seance trying to communicate with Ms. Morley and said Mary Anne told her that a fire would shut down the resturant soon. Soon thereafter a fire did occur and the resturant had to be closed.

I don't like Ms. Browne myself and on the segment she can be heard saying, "Well, I first thought, 'I've got more to do than to go chase ghosts around'..." but then she reconsidered. Hmmm, I wonder how they got her to recon$ider.

At least they didn't do a whole segment on her like they did with Dorothy Allison or George Anderson. I like the psychics segments on UM very much and agree that they would have polluted them by including one featuring Ms. Browne. Just because she is one of the most famous does NOT make her one of the best!!!

Yeah, it wasn't a profile per se, but she was on there. I think she's full of it. There was a Salon.com article on her a couple years ago that was pretty entertaining. I have to admit, I love watching her b/c she's just so phony and such a character. However, this is really crossing the line. I hadn't heard about her Hornbeck "prediction," screenlegal.

I could be wrong. Maybe. But, if I recall correctly wasn't she the psychic who drug out Johnnie (or Yonnie) from the Toys-R-Us store?

I remember her saying something about it - I don't know if it was on Montel or Larry King but she did bring up the story of him.

Just for the record I'm not a believer of Sylvia's but she is good fodder for my Persuasion class. I have video of her and we discuss her other "boo-boo" by telling the fiance of a 911 fireman that they'll never find him "because he's in water". When the fiance mentioned that they never found him because the buildings collapsed Sylvia looked stunned. She still insisted though that water filled his lungs and he drowned.

Oh and by the way - she accepts credit cards for readings. For your convenience.

jeeps

Oh and by the way - she accepts credit cards for readings. For your convenience.

NO WAY. :rolleyes

Actually, yes, Sylvia Browne was featured on a Ghosts epsiode which is on the 4-DVD collection. She is on the segment entitled The Blue Lady or something like that about a mysterious "blue lady" who supposedly haunts a Bay Area distillery.

Ms. Browne comes up with the name of a woman who died in the 20s saying that she was killed by blows to her head and chest; employees actually found a woman killed nearby in the 1920s by the name (Mary Anne Morley if I remember correctly). She also later held a seance trying to communicate with Ms. Morley and said Mary Anne told her that a fire would shut down the resturant soon. Soon thereafter a fire did occur and the resturant had to be closed.

I don't like Ms. Browne myself and on the segment she can be heard saying, "Well, I first thought, 'I've got more to do than to go chase ghosts around'..." but then she reconsidered. Hmmm, I wonder how they got her to recon$ider.

At least they didn't do a whole segment on her like they did with Dorothy Allison or George Anderson. I like the psychics segments on UM very much and agree that they would have polluted them by including one featuring Ms. Browne. Just because she is one of the most famous does NOT make her one of the best!!!
Yes she did. That is one of my favorite segments.

Anderson Cooper is going to do a segment on Sylvia Browne's accuracy very shortly on CNN. Apparently it's not going to be flattering to her claims.

Anderson Cooper is going to do a segment on Sylvia Browne's accuracy very shortly on CNN. Apparently it's not going to be flattering to her claims.

I caught a couple minutes of it. Cooper is the best in his field. Sylvia Browne, on the other hand, should probably just retire.

I caught a couple minutes of it. Cooper is the best in his field. Sylvia Browne, on the other hand, should probably just retire.

It was fairly brutal to her. Even the cases she claims as triumphs had significant variance from her version to what the Cooper program uncovered.

You can tell what a closed society and cash cow it is. The woman who represented Browne during the debate has been with Browne for 34 years, and said everybody on the staff had been there at least 20 years. That would be unheard of in a conventional business.

That spokesman didn't do Browne any favors on the program, IMO. She insisted on hogging the airtime and not allowing the debunker to speak, as if she were afraid of his words. She tried to dismiss the $700 per half hour rate since Browne supposedly doesn't pocket it herself, and would not agree to a test the debunker proposed, saying Sylvia Browne didn't need to prove anything to him.

Larry King also did an episode on Sylvia Brown (she's a regular guest). I only caught about the last 10 minutes of it, but it was a very lively debate. He had professional magician/skeptic James Randi there, and he was gloating up a storm! There was also some other psychic who was like, "Yes, Sylvia was obviously a fraud, but I'm totally legit!" I don't think Sylvia will be coming on the Larry King show any more.

She tried to dismiss the $700 per half hour rate since Browne supposedly doesn't pocket it herself, and would not agree to a test the debunker proposed, saying Sylvia Browne didn't need to prove anything to him.


She doesn't need to prove anything Awsi - there are people who worship the ground she walks on. A while ago she was in Boston for a lecture series. Tickets were over $100 - in fact, when I called the only seats available were $125. Not even for sweet research would I pay that. Somehow I couldn't justify my department forking over the money for this sideshow either but I was told I could use my "professional development" money for it. When I called that afternoon to reserve a seat there were none available. She sold out thousands of seats in less than 24 hours.

Her method is quite simple - tell the people what they want to hear. Sure, grandpa is sending you signals through "birds". He sends birds while Aunt Gracie sends messages through "phones ringing". She looks at someone in their 20's and tells them that there is a sick relative in their life. Trust me, I'm surrounded by 20 year olds and every one of them has a sick relative. It just happens when you reach that age.

Tell people what they want to hear and you have followers. History proves this over and over. I used to be surprised by those who considered it an "honor" to have her say something snarky or snappy to them - now, not so much.

P.T. Barnum couldn't have been any more on target.

jeeps

She doesn't need to prove anything Awsi - there are people who worship the ground she walks on. A while ago she was in Boston for a lecture series. Tickets were over $100 - in fact, when I called the only seats available were $125. Not even for sweet research would I pay that. Somehow I couldn't justify my department forking over the money for this sideshow either but I was told I could use my "professional development" money for it. When I called that afternoon to reserve a seat there were none available. She sold out thousands of seats in less than 24 hours.

Her method is quite simple - tell the people what they want to hear. Sure, grandpa is sending you signals through "birds". He sends birds while Aunt Gracie sends messages through "phones ringing". She looks at someone in their 20's and tells them that there is a sick relative in their life. Trust me, I'm surrounded by 20 year olds and every one of them has a sick relative. It just happens when you reach that age.

Tell people what they want to hear and you have followers. History proves this over and over. I used to be surprised by those who considered it an "honor" to have her say something snarky or snappy to them - now, not so much.

P.T. Barnum couldn't have been any more on target.

jeeps

For what it's worth, my opinion is this. Whenever anybody wants $ to tell you (or anybody) "truth" about religion, life after death, or anything of a spiritual nature, huge red flags need to be thrown up.

Buddha said to seek salvation in yourself, because no matter what anybody tells you the "truth" is, it really doesn't matter unless you believe it in your own heart. Answers are already in yourself, you don't need to pay anybody to get them.

I'm sorry for the sermon, but it sickens me that people are still taken advantage of by psychics and people who disguise themselves as religious leaders. :faint:

[QUOTE=jeeps] I used to be surprised by those who considered it an "honor" to have her say something snarky or snappy to them - now, not so much.

Yes, Jeeps, I have noticed that too. Sylvia Browne shows little sympathy for the people she talks on the Montel Williams Show. I have literally seen her roll her eyes and say very condescending things to grief stricken family members who were just trying to get answers to missing persons and murder cases. I wish this recent wave of negative publicity would be enough to get Montel to ban her from his show (or at least cut down on the number of her appearances) but I really doubt it will have any effect.

I saw this link on another website and thought I'd post it:
StopSylviaBrown.com (http://www.stopsylviabrowne.com/articles/montel_shawnhornbeck.shtml)

I haven't looked though the whole website yet, but I do like the logo with the long fingernails. :lol:

[QUOTE=jeeps] I used to be surprised by those who considered it an "honor" to have her say something snarky or snappy to them - now, not so much.

Yes, Jeeps, I have noticed that too. Sylvia Browne shows little sympathy for the people she talks on the Montel Williams Show. I have literally seen her roll her eyes and say very condescending things to grief stricken family members who were just trying to get answers to missing persons and murder cases. I wish this recent wave of negative publicity would be enough to get Montel to ban her from his show (or at least cut down on the number of her appearances) but I really doubt it will have any effect.

I've always been confused by the fact that Montel seems like such a smart, positive person and yet he endorses this lady. I don't get it.
:confused:

I apologize for the mis-information that I gave the board. Good ole' Sylvia Brown did not display her, ahem, talents on UM...she did the whole Johnny thing on "That's Incredible".

A friend informed me that I was wrong. I really do apologize because I can remember it so clearly but for some reason I thought it was Unsolved Mysteries.

Hope this restores my credibility. As far as Sylvia's credibility - hey, that's another story for another day.

jeeps

I saw this link on another website and thought I'd post it:
StopSylviaBrown.com (http://www.stopsylviabrowne.com/articles/montel_shawnhornbeck.shtml)

I haven't looked though the whole website yet, but I do like the logo with the long fingernails. :lol:


This horrible looking witch is a TOTAL FRAUD and needs to be jailed.

I was going to post that site so I'm glad you did. She actually said Kerry would win the election and the VA miners will be found alive among a host of other lies.

If you study up on cold readings you will learn that there are only a limited number of possiblities for almost any scenario and once you know them then you can just take certain intuitive clues from a given situation then anyone can be "psychic".

But I thought her last name was spelled "Browne". Is it?

[QUOTE=jeeps] I used to be surprised by those who considered it an "honor" to have her say something snarky or snappy to them - now, not so much.

Yes, Jeeps, I have noticed that too. Sylvia Browne shows little sympathy for the people she talks on the Montel Williams Show. I have literally seen her roll her eyes and say very condescending things to grief stricken family members who were just trying to get answers to missing persons and murder cases. I wish this recent wave of negative publicity would be enough to get Montel to ban her from his show (or at least cut down on the number of her appearances) but I really doubt it will have any effect.


Yeah. Montel himself is a scammer if he keeps having this fraud on his show.

I'm sure he has been berated by some prominent people about PSYCHO Sylvia Browne but he still has her on.

I know Bill O'Reilly was angry at Sylvia on his radio show a few weeks ago and he called her a fraud and he said he needs to talk to Montel about Sylvia but I don't know if he ever did.

Everyone needs to keep the pressure on until this lunatic is jailed or put in the nuthouse!

I'm an ex Sylvia Browne follower and I'm curious to know when and how she was "exposed" as you say. Thanks!



She's just so damn convincing in her books.........:mad:

Thank for resurrecting this, kamy. I've never been a huge fan of Sylvia Browne, or any other well-known psychic, for that matter. I do believe that some people are psychically gifted, and while they do not always get their facts right (as some have mentioned here, Shawn Hornbeck and the WV miners are two cases that she was totally wrong about), Browne seems to be one of the bigger frauds out there. It doesn't take any kind of special gift or ability to tell a grieving family exactly what they want to hear. The fees she charges are borderline extortionate. I think that she and the others (Van Praagh, Edward, etc.) are nothing more than very skilled con artists.

I'm an ex Sylvia Browne follower and I'm curious to know when and how she was "exposed" as you say. Thanks!



She's just so damn convincing in her books.........:mad:

Well, if you read through the thread (and do a search on on the rest of the UM discussion board) and look at the weblink posted above, you'll find examples where this "psychic" was majorly wrong wrong wrong. The latest and most notable example was a kidnapped boy who was found alive after years in captivity. Sylvia, no doubt based solely on statistics, told the boy's parents in no uncertain terms that their kid was dead.

I've never read her books, but anyone who claims to know exactly how the universe works (spirit guides, etc) should be suspect from the get-go. She portrays utter confidence in her predictions, and I'm sure thats how she is able to suck people into her fraudulent little business. Fortunately, that same hubris is coming back to bite her in the ass.

Yeah, I checked out the Stop Sylvia Browne website and it's excellent. It just saddens me that this woman's books pulled me out of a deep depression and eating disorder and then I read all this stuff against her. I'm so thankful I never got a reading with her like I had planned and I'm very thankful I never supported her church after reading it was basically ran by bums and hoodlums.

Thanks!

You took what you needed from her books, Kamy. That's a fine thing. Sometimes, we find strenght in places we wouldn't consider. Sometimes, we find out later that it wasn't what we thought it was. The important thing is, you got past your depression and eating disorder. I'm not defending Syliva Browne, I find her repellant to tell the truth, but if you got something useful out of her writings, then it wasn't all bad for you.

Congratulations on getting well again!

Truth be told, she reminds me too much of one of my evil aunts with the long nails and the smokes too much voice and the rolling the eyes all the time. I could never take her seriously because my aunt was a busy body who made everyone miserable.

Yeah, I checked out the Stop Sylvia Browne website and it's excellent. It just saddens me that this woman's books pulled me out of a deep depression and eating disorder and then I read all this stuff against her. I'm so thankful I never got a reading with her like I had planned and I'm very thankful I never supported her church after reading it was basically ran by bums and hoodlums.

Thanks!

I agree with Eire. You found the positive and useful messages in her writing, which is great. It's not like she suckered you out of thousands of dollars on readings and cruises. But don't give her too much credit. You may have used her writings as a way to focus yourself, but YOU are the one who got yourself healthy. I commend you for that!

How can you say if Sylvia Browne was on UM it would have hurt UM's credibility but it doesn't if other psychics are on??

NONE of this "psychic" ability has ever been proven to be real. I know segments on UM seem amazing but you have to take it with a grain of salt. Keep in mind Cosgrove/Meuer is looking to get ratings for their show and don't think they wouldn't embellish things just for entertainment purposes.

I once talked to guy who worked on these documentary type shows (like UM) and he said you'd be suprised at how the producers try to stretch the truth and embellish things just for ratings.

Don't put it past them to get certain people to say certain things just to enhance the reputation of their "psychic".

And still no one has stepped forward and claimed James Randi's million dollar prize and those who have tried have failed miserably like guessing 0 out of 20 right!!

LOL!

Well I recently received some "In Search Of" episodes in a trade and I suprised at the one titled "Ghostly Stakeout" featured Sylvia Browne and another guy whom she had worked with a lot in the past. Of course this was back in the 70's so you wouldn't have recognized her - a lot slimmer than she is now with short brown hair. I don't know much about ole Sylvia nor do I care to but it took me suprise she was that popular 30 years ago.

Well I recently received some "In Search Of" episodes in a trade and I suprised at the one titled "Ghostly Stakeout" featured Sylvia Browne and another guy whom she had worked with a lot in the past. Of course this was back in the 70's so you wouldn't have recognized her - a lot slimmer than she is now with short brown hair. I don't know much about ole Sylvia nor do I care to but it took me suprise she was that popular 30 years ago.

Oooh...I love In Search Of. I bet her voice was different too, before 30+ years of chain smoking.

Oooh...I love In Search Of. I bet her voice was different too, before 30+ years of chain smoking.

Lol, actually she looked so different it was the voice (and of course Nimoy calling her by name) that helped me realize it was her. I'm sure her voice wasn't quite as sexy as it is now though. :lol:

I'm amazed people are still naive enough to believe this quack. She actually predicted Kerry would win the election and all the Sago mine victims survived among other disasters.

Some people are just so desperate to believe anything when they don't have the answers by logical means.

As an ex-supporter of Ms. Browne, I will say that her books are very convincing and if you do not do any research then you will hear nothing negative about her. I honestly wouldn't have had my eyes opened if it wasn't for the information that a poster on this forum provided me with.

As an ex-supporter of Ms. Browne, I will say that her books are very convincing and if you do not do any research then you will hear nothing negative about her. I honestly wouldn't have had my eyes opened if it wasn't for the information that a poster on this forum provided me with.

What info are you talking about?

PM me if you want the link........

sylvia brown reminds me of that anti-tobacco commercial that used to air with the lady who had to smoke through the hole in her neck.

sylvia brown reminds me of that anti-tobacco commercial that used to air with the lady who had to smoke through the hole in her neck.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah, that's fabulous :lol: :lol:

Boo. Sylvia Browne. Boo....

http://www.stopsylvia.com/

I just wanted to post the new web address for the site that does the Sylvia Browne debunking. The link was posted earlier in this thread, but it's no longer located there and was moved to the new site a couple years ago.

The guy who runs it (Robert Lancaster) had a stroke a couple years back and was in the hospital for several months recovering and doing rehab. While he was there, his domain registry expired. That's why the site changed.

Robert says that while he was unable to work on the site or pay for the registry, someone else bought the domain and put up their own info, which was pretty much the opposite of what he'd been posting. At this point, stopsylviabrowne dot com is basically defunct. Going there brings up a "not found" page.

I'm glad to hear the webmaster is doing better. I was glad to find that site when I did. I used to be a believer too. Now it just makes me ill.

She's done "predictions" on numerous cases featured on UM. Needless to say, her predictions are worthless (it's unclear if she has ever been right) and often not comforting at all, IMO (white slavery, torture, etc.)

I don't think she's especially unique among "psychics," just more noticeable.

The last activity on that site seems to be 2 new articles in April 2010. I'm not sure if his health has prevented him working on it more, if Sylvia is out of the spotlight since Montel's show was cancelled, or what. I know that Robert posted a couple pics of himself. I gathered that he's somewhat disabled and using a wheel chair.

I sure hope he's able to continue his work with the site. IMO, he's doing a lot of good by sharing what he finds.

I don't believe in the kind of psychic that Sylvia claims to be, but I didn't think she was doing any harm, other than trying to make people believe that she's got some kind of supernatural gift. I wasn't really familiar with who and what she is.

After I read the stopsylvia site, I realized it's a lot more serious than just some chick reading tea leaves. She's charging several hundred dollars for each 1/2 hour telephone reading. There are statements from her customers that say their readings were almost completely wrong, to the point that they felt cheated out of their money.

Her former customers and staff accuse her, her son, and her handlers of being rude and dismissive to people, swearing and using offensive language unnecessarily (such as telling grieving parents that their dead daughter was p*ssed off), calling her lecture attendants and followers "freaks", refusing to accept gifts at her shows and performances, and other negative stuff you wouldn't expect from a woman who has started her own church and claims to solve crimes and heal broken hearts with her psychic ability.

She's given many families false hope about their missing loved ones but she's also been so blunt as to tell the parents of a missing young man that their child was "offed". She often says things like, "ugh, why are they always in water?" when talking about finding the body of a missing child. She just doesn't seem to have any compassion or to even understand how her cold remarks can cause more pain for desperate, grieving people.

Sylvia told one woman that the man she had always thought was her father was not, that she was really the product of an extramarital affair. She told a woman that her husband was slowly poisoning her to death. The woman moved out and nearly ended her marriage. She told a woman that her dead husband had cheated on her during their marriage and named a family friend as the homewrecker, causing years of misery and causing family members to choose sides. She told a caller on the radio that her mother was dead. The caller had to hang up with Sylvia in order to call her mom to see if she was dead or alive. No one was ever told if this was a correct or incorrect reading.

After doing a reading for them on the Montel show, she tried to charge Shawn Hornbeck's parents $700 to follow up with her about any more information on their missing son. They declined. She told Amy Bradley's mom to send $75 and one question by mail and she'd give them an answer about their missing daughter in 2 weeks. Iva Bradley bumped into Sylvia at an airport and was crying and begging Sylvia to give her information on where her daughter was. Sylvia refused and walked away. After Amy's case became a huge media topic, Montel's people called her family and asked that Amy's parents come on their show to have their case discussed. Iva Bradley told them exactly what she thought of Sylvia and declined. Here's a link to the email she sent to the stopsylvia site: http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/email_facetoface.shtml

One of the scariest readings was when she and Montel both told a woman who suspected that she had a metal surgical instrument left inside her abdomen to get an MRI to find it. They both told her specifically to NOT tell the medical staff that she thought she had a large piece of metal in her body. Apparently, Sylvia gives medical advice frequently, but that one is extremely dangerous.

That site gives links to Sylvia's appearances on Montel. Watching those really opened my eyes. I could see her in action for myself, and not rely on just some unknown person's written account. Viewing those clips reveals her very pathetic attempts at cold reading. Usually, a successful cold reader is charming enough to put you off your guard so you are more apt to believe what they are saying, but not with this woman. She's rude and offensive. I don't know how in the world she got such a huge fan base.

I might be remembering this wrong, but I think she was on another episode involving a stalker or a person who set up traps to hurt people. I remember seeing her around a mailbox, where one of the traps was rigged. I'm almost certain it was UM, but my memory could be off because I saw it years ago. Does this sound familar to anyone?

I might be remembering this wrong, but I think she was on another episode involving a stalker or a person who set up traps to hurt people. I remember seeing her around a mailbox, where one of the traps was rigged. I'm almost certain it was UM, but my memory could be off because I saw it years ago. Does this sound familar to anyone?

Not sure if it was on UM, but I remember a case where some kids rigged a mailbox with a bottle bomb or pipe bomb or something, and while they watched from the woods, a mom and her little baby opened the mailbox and the thing explodes. I thought this was maybe an episode of House or some other fictional show, (not true crime stuff). I'm not sure, of course, my memory is notoriously bad and I have to pop in here and ask folks for help all the time. :)

Also, not sure if it was UM, but there was the guy who was a forger dealing in rare Mormon documents. He started covering his tracks by delivering bomb packages. They were a bit like something that the post office or a delivery service might drop off, so people weren't suspicious. Then he nearly killed himself by accidentally activating a bomb package in his car. He tried to act like the victim, but the authorities figured out that his injuries were much different than the way he claimed it all happened and they started investigating him.

Here are some cases that were featured on UM that Sylvia Browne has done readings for:

Holly Krewson - http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/montel_hollykrewson.shtml

Amy Bradley - http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/email_facetoface.shtml

Brookdale Lodge - http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/sightings_ghostofbrookdalelodge.shtml

and the Brookdale Lodge followup - http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/sightings_ghostofbrookdalelodge2.shtml

Dana Satterfield - http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/montel_danachyleensatterfield.shtml

Not sure if it was on UM, but I remember a case where some kids rigged a mailbox with a bottle bomb or pipe bomb or something, and while they watched from the woods, a mom and her little baby opened the mailbox and the thing explodes. I thought this was maybe an episode of House or some other fictional show, (not true crime stuff). I'm not sure, of course, my memory is notoriously bad and I have to pop in here and ask folks for help all the time. :)

Also, not sure if it was UM, but there was the guy who was a forger dealing in rare Mormon documents. He started covering his tracks by delivering bomb packages. They were a bit like something that the post office or a delivery service might drop off, so people weren't suspicious. Then he nearly killed himself by accidentally activating a bomb package in his car. He tried to act like the victim, but the authorities figured out that his injuries were much different than the way he claimed it all happened and they started investigating him.

I think you're thinking of the movie Butterfly Effect with Ashton Kutcher. :D

As for the second one, I don't know. I'll think about it.

Here are some cases that were featured on UM that Sylvia Browne has done readings for:

Holly Krewson - http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/montel_hollykrewson.shtml

Amy Bradley - http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/email_facetoface.shtml

Brookdale Lodge - http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/sightings_ghostofbrookdalelodge.shtml

and the Brookdale Lodge followup - http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/sightings_ghostofbrookdalelodge2.shtml

Dana Satterfield - http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/montel_danachyleensatterfield.shtml

I didn't know Sylvia did readings for those cases. I will read those articles sometime soon. I was once a supporter of Sylvia Browne and I used to tune in everytime she was on Montel but eventually I could tell Montel was in on it too.

I didn't know Sylvia did readings for those cases. I will read those articles sometime soon. I was once a supporter of Sylvia Browne and I used to tune in everytime she was on Montel but eventually I could tell Montel was in on it too.

One of the things that ticks me off about Montel is that he used to have credibility, partly due to his emmy awards and US military service, but he uses that to con people.

He's into all kinds of shady things now, like selling a bunch of over priced "healthy cooking" appliances on infomercials. Other things he's involved in is selling a "toasty wrap", his version of the snuggie blanket, which he pitches to people who are concerned about their high heating bills.

The item he's really been pitching lately, a payday loan scam thing, really makes me mad. He has commercials on tv offering his loan sharking services for people who need fast cash. I forgot how high the interest is if you decide to get Montel's pay day loan scam, but getting involved with that is practically a guarantee for a financial spiral into a bottomless pit of debt.

I've never been involved with anything having to do with Montel, his show, or his products, so I don't know how they got my name and address, but once a week for the last month, his company has been sending me a mailer with a credit card looking thing in there that has all my personal info on it.

I contacted them to tell them to get my name off their list, but they are soooo sleazy. That pay day loan scam card was really the last straw. We've all got enough problems without instantly activated cash cards being sent to us, unsolicited, covered in personal info, and practically begging an identity thief to grab it and go on a spending spree.

One of the things that ticks me off about Montel is that he used to have credibility, partly due to his emmy awards and US military service, but he uses that to con people.

He's into all kinds of shady things now, like selling a bunch of over priced "healthy cooking" appliances on infomercials. Other things he's involved in is selling a "toasty wrap", his version of the snuggie blanket, which he pitches to people who are concerned about their high heating bills.

The item he's really been pitching lately, a payday loan scam thing, really makes me mad. He has commercials on tv offering his loan sharking services for people who need fast cash. I forgot how high the interest is if you decide to get Montel's pay day loan scam, but getting involved with that is practically a guarantee for a financial spiral into a bottomless pit of debt.

I've never been involved with anything having to do with Montel, his show, or his products, so I don't know how they got my name and address, but once a week for the last month, his company has been sending me a mailer with a credit card looking thing in there that has all my personal info on it.

I contacted them to tell them to get my name off their list, but they are soooo sleazy. That pay day loan scam card was really the last straw. We've all got enough problems without instantly activated cash cards being sent to us, unsolicited, covered in personal info, and practically begging an identity thief to grab it and go on a spending spree.

I was flipping the channels one day & came across his healthy infomercial & he had the ol bag on that!

Oh yeah, I read somewhere (probably the stop sylvia site) that Montel and Sylvia had teamed up on their infomercial scams. For some reason, when those two get on tv together, they seem to be a money maker.

I never believed in psychics to begin with. Look at how many times they have been wrong and have been in trouble with the law. Sylvia has been wrong numerous times. She once said the pope was going to die in the year 2000. He died in 2004. Then there is Ms. Cleo. She wasnt even a psychic. She was a representative for a psychic company. They scammed a lot of people. If you go onto consumeraffairs.com, you will find a lot of people cheated out of money by psychics. If pychics really knew the future, the lottery systems would go broke.
A little off subject, but those people that kept predicting that the world was going to end in 1960, 1984, and 2000. They were all wrong! I have to admit, I thought the world was going to end in 2000 with the Y2K bug. My father did not buy into all the hoopla. He waited up until midnight knowing not a darn thing was going to happen. He was right.

I did see one of the Sylvia/Montel infomercials sometime back. It was one night that I had fallen asleep with the TV on and when I woke up they were try to sell some fruit juicer product and Sylvia was also doing "readings".

:2bump

Bumping this thread up due to Sylvia Browne's role in giving incorrect psychic reading information in the recent Cleveland, Ohio abducted women's case.

I wish the woman (Amanda B?) whose mom died after Sylvia told her that her daughter was dead could have seen the Stop Sylvia site and learned what a dangerous, evil, uncaring, greedy fraud she is. Maybe she would have taken that information and decided that there was still hope to find her daughter alive. From what I read, Sylvia's words caused the mother to lose all hope. I think she said she felt Sylvia was 98% correct, and then she passed on about a year later, at only age 44 (?).

:2bump

Bumping this thread up due to Sylvia Browne's role in giving incorrect psychic reading information in the recent Cleveland, Ohio abducted women's case.

I wish the woman (Amanda B?) whose mom died after Sylvia told her that her daughter was dead could have seen the Stop Sylvia site and learned what a dangerous, evil, uncaring, greedy fraud she is. Maybe she would have taken that information and decided that there was still hope to find her daughter alive. From what I read, Sylvia's words caused the mother to lose all hope. I think she said she felt Sylvia was 98% correct, and then she passed on about a year later, at only age 44 (?).


Horrible and the police were always raving on her on Montel!

The worst "Sylvia moment" I can recall was on a Montel episode in the early 2000s some years after 9/11. A woman stood up and asked Sylvia how her boyfriend had died because although she knew he was deceased, she never learned what exactly caused his death. Sylvia immediately says, "He drowned. He's in water." This poor woman looked flabbergasted on top of already being choked up. She answered her, "He died in New York City during the 9/11 attacks. He was a firefighter." Completely dumb look from Sylvia, who instantly snaps back in classic Sylvie fashion, "Well, he's in water. That's what I see." Then Montel offers, "Maybe it had something to do with the hoses.." :rolleyes:

Two peas in a pod, those two. Charlatans.

Good old Inside Edition also did a story on her wrong predictions:

http://www.insideedition.com/headlines/6305-psychic-sylvia-browne-wrong-on-two-kidnapping-cases

I just watched video (in one of the news articles I read) where Sylvia was giving parents a reading about their dead daughter.

The parents wanted to know what had killed their teenage daughter. Sylvia told them that she had been shot.

Both parents looked confused and said that their daughter had died unexpectedly, in her own room. There were no gunshot injuries. Apparently the autopsy couldn't determine cause of death and that's why the parents were asking Sylvia.

She and Montel tried to cover by saying it was something in the girl's chest, like a shot, could she have been hit in the chest during sports activities and then come home and died unexpectedly, etc.. all CYA and they looked so stupid, since it was so obviously not a gunshot. ugh.

I just watched video (in one of the news articles I read) where Sylvia was giving parents a reading about their dead daughter.

The parents wanted to know what had killed their teenage daughter. Sylvia told them that she had been shot.

Both parents looked confused and said that their daughter had died unexpectedly, in her own room. There were no gunshot injuries. Apparently the autopsy couldn't determine cause of death and that's why the parents were asking Sylvia.

She and Montel tried to cover by saying it was something in the girl's chest, like a shot, could she have been hit in the chest during sports activities and then come home and died unexpectedly, etc.. all CYA and they looked so stupid, since it was so obviously not a gunshot. ugh.

Crooks. I loathe Montel Williams. The snake oil salesman of our time that will shake hands with anyone or anything if he thinks he's going to get a buck out of it.