Living in Los Angeles, a town where psychics are only outnumbered by yoga studios, I know that a lot of people believe that the occult can help solve relationship problems. I’ve been there; after a particularly bad breakup I was one of those people Googling ‘Voodoo Curses To Bring Your Ex Back Tonight’ at 4am. I’m not questioning whether it’s a rational idea to believe that ordering a raccoon penis bone online will balance your relationship (that’s another post), but I do want to protect emotionally vulnerable people from sending money into a vacuum. Because lately I’ve been noticing more and more ‘fake psychics’ using the comment section of legitimate love advice sites to troll for victims. Many people who send money and can’t get it back never come forward because they don’t want to admit that they got dumped, then duped. So how can we spot scammers? And is there any way to find a legitimate psychic? [. . .]

In its third survey of more than 5,000 singles, dating website Match.com found that 48per cent of women admit that they research a first date on Facebook. An almost equal number expect to know a man’s work status before their first meeting.However, 49per cent of men believe that practice of pre-screening is ‘ unacceptable.’ [. . .]