A Manhattan fortune teller with a history of alleged fraud is now accused of scamming a hotel maid out of tens of thousands of dollars — claiming the victim’s son would die if the mother didn’t pay to lift a “generational curse,” according to court documents and an investigator.
Pamela Ufie, 28, the alleged crystal-ball swindler, was arrested near Bryant Park on Thursday evening and charged with one count of grand larceny and two counts of fraudulent accosting, court documents reveal.
Pamela Ufie was arrested Thursday evening near Bryant Park and charged with one count of grand larceny and two counts of fraudulent accosting.
The suspect — whose alleged criminal activities date back nearly a decade — is accused of tricking the 43-year-old mother of two into handing over “in excess of $50,000” in a scheme that began in 2022, according to court papers and an investigator.
“She’s a self-proclaimed psychic who preys upon vulnerable people and steals from them,” said private investigator and former NYPD and Nassau County police officer Bob Nygaard, who alerted local authorities.
He told The Post that this case is a common example of fortune tellers’ con games.
The victim was walking through Times Square one day after work when Ufie tapped her on the shoulder and told her she was “cursed” and that the defendant sensed evil spirits surrounding her, according to court documents.
Initially, the victim paid Ufie $100, Nygaard said. But then the so-called clairvoyant told her she needed to do more “research” — and that the victim “must send the defendant regular money transactions via Zelle in order for the defendant to continue” her work, court papers revealed.
The suspect warned the victim that her son would die if she did not allow her to help lift what she described as a “generational curse,” according to the investigator.
Ufie claimed she “needed money to acquire specialty materials necessary to conduct rituals that would help defeat the curse,” which included, among other things, platinum spiritual candles and mercury, the documents said.
The alleged grifter told the victim that the only way to lift the curse was by giving her money—explaining that cash was the root of all evil and that she and others would cleanse it before returning it, the investigator said.
But the money was never returned, leaving the victim out the savings she had been hoping to use to buy a home for her family.
Ufie pleaded not guilty during her arraignment Friday. She did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“She is presumed innocent, and all the evidence will be presented in the courtroom,” her lawyer, Albert Dayan, told Gothamist.
Nygaard spotted the fortune teller Thursday afternoon near the New York Public Library’s main branch next to Bryant Park and called 911. Officers responded and made the arrest.
It marked the conclusion of his more than two-year investigation, he said.
Nygaard added that he has been involved in all of Ufie’s cases, including one nearly a decade ago involving her mother-in-law, who was accused of running a similar scheme. The outcomes of those cases were not immediately clear.
The faux psychic has had multiple run-ins with the law in 2023, along with two previous arrests for grand larceny in 2021 and 2022, according to police sources.
Nygaard, who specializes in these types of schemes, has collaborated with federal investigators and police departments across 12 states on fortune teller cases and helped recover $12 million for victims.
He noted that many law enforcement officers — both cops and prosecutors — are unaware that claiming psychic powers can be illegal.
“People go into a police precinct and are told it’s a civil matter, it’s a civil matter, it’s a civil matter,” he said. “But it’s not a civil matter, it’s a criminal one — there is a law on the books.”
There is, in fact, a law in New York that makes it illegal to take money for practicing “occult powers.” Fortune telling is classified as a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail. Nygaard said this law is rarely enforced.
He added that law enforcement too often seems to blame the victims in these cases. However, he’s seen people from all walks of life come to him for help after being duped by clairvoyant scammers.
“I had a guy who was a rocket scientist, a teacher, even an NYPD cop,” he said. “It’s not a matter of education or intelligence. What law enforcement doesn’t realize is that anybody — anybody — can fall victim to a psychic scam if they’re in a vulnerable moment in their life.”
