Scam psychic letters ‘led to death of elderly widow’

A WIDOW died from stress brought on by demands for money from psychics operating from Ireland, her family have claimed.

English grandmother Mulvie Wright, 76, was spending up to £400 (€594) a month on psychics operating here, as well as others in Switzerland, Luxembourg and the US.

Ms Wright, of Cornwall, south-west England, was persuaded to part with the money after answering junk mail from psychics predicting bad luck unless she sent them cash.

The grandmother, who was suffering depression after the death of her husband, was also told by the psychics that her home was possessed by evil spirits.

The stress of dealing with the continual demands for money caused her a fatal brain haemorrhage last month, her daughter Louise, 48, said yesterday.

“She was a very fit and active 76-year-old until these letters started coming and she became increasingly withdrawn.

“She had high blood pressure and was on medication, and she was becoming more and more stressed,” she said.

Her family was unaware of her obsession until they were sorting through her belongings after her death and came upon boxes of letters from the psychics.

Letters came from clairvoyants claiming to have sensed an evil presence in her street while others said they could use their powers to help her win lottery prizes if she sent them money first.

Others psychics told her she could ward off disaster if she performed rituals like tearing up playing cards and chanting against evil — as well as sending money.

The widow had even recorded dates on her calendar to remind her to perform the bizarre rituals demanded by the psychics.

“We found boxes and boxes of correspondence from clairvoyants and I find it hard to understand why she fell for it,” said her daughter.

Yesterday Cornwall trading standards officials, who investigate scams, said the frauds operated across Europe.

Trading standards official Jackie Snow said the fraudsters use mailing addresses in Ireland and Britain to make their letters seem genuine.

“There are particularly nasty ones and make people feel terrible things are going to happen but we can’t stop them coming in the post,” said Ms Snow.

“Unfortunately, people do respond to them and we even make home visits to people to persuade them not to send any more money.

“This scam happens across Europe and these people don’t care who they hit.”

Research into mail and phone scams by British consumer champions reveals women between the ages of 25 and 55 are most likely to be caught out by psychic mailings.