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Miss Cleo's Future Includes a Lawsuit

By DAVE GOLDINER Daily News Staff Writer

Miss Cleo, the TV psychic whose Caribbean accent has become a staple of late-night infomercials, was accused yesterday of ripping off gullible customers.

The smiling tarot card reader promises viewers in her barrage of commercials that she can say with certainty whether love or financial success is in their future.

But Missouri officials say the company that airs the ads had better stop fleecing vulnerable consumers or she faces a real sure thing: a six-figure fine.

"Miss Cleo should have seen this coming," Attorney General Jay Nixon said. "It doesn't take a crystal ball to realize that ripping off consumers isn't without consequences."

Nixon filed two suits charging that Access Resources Services, the Florida company that created the Miss Cleo service, is violating Missouri's no-call law and engaging in improper billing practices.

People who never requested the service, including some who are dead, have received bills for Miss Cleo's services, Nixon said.

The no-call law carries a $5,000 penalty for each violation. With 94 alleged calls, Miss Cleo's bosses could be on the hook for $470,000.

The suit also charges that callers were billed for free services such as providing their name, address and phone number when they did call the number — and charged for time on hold waiting to speak with psychics.

But a lawyer for the telephone psychic company said Miss Cleo and her associates are all about predicting the future, not scamming clients. "These allegations could not be further from the truth," said lawyer Sean Moynihan. "Access takes 10 steps that no one else does to make sure they are in compliance with the law."

An official biography for Miss Cleo says she is from Jamaica — but does not include her real name or age.

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2001

Answers

THIS is what give the TRUE sensitive a BAD RAPT...what a shame..and the real a$$kicker is...they are not really psychics, anyway!

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2001