How Miss Cleo Deceived Millions of People

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Miss Cleo was one of the most popular psychics in the 90s and early 2000s. She became a big star thanks to her informercials that often aired at night. Unfortunately for she would get exposed. We take a look back at the interesting story of Miss Cleo and find out what actually happened.  Hotline Bling 0:00 Intro 0:47 Hotlines 1:12 Youree Dell Harris 3:11 Money Machine 4:01 Downfall 5:20 outro

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00:00many people try to solve their personal problems by choosing to seek advice from others some look

00:13to their friends and family to gain a new perspective on their issues while others may

00:19gravitate toward the more mystical realm and seek paranormal advisors in search of solutions there

00:25was one woman a part of said paranormal group that was sought out by thousands around the country

00:32unfortunately for many people she was not the best candidate to offer advice they would soon

00:37discover let's take a look back at the interesting story of miss cleo and find out what actually

00:44happened psychic call-in services was a highly lucrative business before the turn of the new

00:50millennium often they would produce major profits yearly with their very shady business tactics

00:57during late nights on television infomercials was the primary source to garner interest

01:02and push the product being sold sooner larger than life talent would take the hotline business

01:09to much greater heights financially than ever before before the fame while working as a theater

01:15writer and stage performer yuri harris had conjured up quite the interesting character for one of her

01:22scripts she would later get into the psychic business using the cleo character as inspiration on her new

01:28path harris would later be discovered by one of the bigger companies in the industry her charismatic

01:36and confident personality on screen would gain her lots of attention and several thousand fans

01:41viewers would call in with questions pertaining to their love life wondering if they were choosing

01:47the best career path and some calling for closure while there were many tellers available to speak

01:53with for readings miss clear was the most requested by far if you have love questions we have your answer

02:00the ex-boyfriend is whispering sweet nothing's in your ear right now isn't he yes uh-huh he had some

02:07outside interest that really conflicted with the relationship itself yes he had somebody on the

02:12side did you think that you were pregnant a couple of months back yes you were but you lost it correct

02:18yeah don't let sex be the thing that wants to take you back to a familiar place okay the ex is much

02:24better than the present one you know did your face get hot she got embarrassed she had to go get

02:29something for drink if you want him to believe that it's over then you got to stop accepting the booty calls

02:37at 2am in the morning do you understand yeah i also see another individual who is older than you that

02:42is willing to help you financially you know who i'm talking about yes because that individual also

02:47happens to be very married correct correct your reading will amaze you come now and try it for free

02:54she was extremely personable on air and often provided a form of motherly wisdom to the callers

03:01she even had her very own catchphrase which took on a life of its own cards can reveal things

03:06that you will never see by yourself call me now for your free tarot reading having thousands

03:12of requests to talk to miss cleo was great for business the standard rate for a call was about a

03:18dollar every minute money can add up very quickly when on a call regarding your future

03:25often many companies had strategies to drag calls out for the sole purpose of additional fees

03:30having miss cleo be the focal point of the network was paying off in a major way under her reign the

03:38company would make hundreds of millions of dollars but after years of making a substantial profit

03:45the customer complaints began to pile up not to mention a large amount of skeptics concerned

03:51about the product continued to form after several allegations raised regarding alleged shady practices

03:58the network would be under fire in 2002 the federal trade commission would charge miss cleo's company

04:07with deceptive advertising billing and collection practices the corporation agreed to pay a five

04:13million dollar fine to the commission and also refund those who were improperly billed and they would

04:19forgive tons of customer debt the alleged amount was around 500 million dollars in total

04:25during all the legal troubles the operation faced miss cleo's true identity was finally exposed

04:34court documents included her real birthplace being los angeles and not jamaica as she wanted everyone

04:40to believe following the series of events many people chose to label her as a fraud

04:48miss cleo soon would fade into obscurity and become the punchline of many jokes going forward

04:53being exposed for the deception resulted in very few opportunities in the following years for the

04:59former star at one point harris was even said to have become a recluse due to the backlash at the age

05:07of 53 harris would suddenly pass away after a battle with cancer miss cleo still remains one of the most

05:16memorable personalities ever in pop culture history what do you think about this story do you believe

05:23in psychic abilities and the paranormal and were you a fan of miss cleo before she was exposed leave a

05:31comment below and let me know

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