December 2020
NCAS Public Lecture Series
Combating
Psychic / Fortune-Telling Fraud
YouTube Live Event with Q and A
Presented
by Bob Nygaard
Private Investigator, Nygaard Investigations, Inc.
Saturday, December 12, 1:30pm US/Eastern (UTC-05:00)
NCASVideo YouTube Channel:
https://youtu.be/LypiIcN8V_8
For more information, call the NCAS Skeptic Line at
240-670-NCAS (6227).
ncas@ncas.org
Fortune-telling fraud (aka Psychic Fraud) is a prevalent
problem in the world. It is a certain species of fraud whereby self-proclaimed
psychics emotionally abuse and financially exploit vulnerable people who are
experiencing problems in their lives, bilking them out of billions of dollars
each year under the guise of providing assistance.
Private investigator Bob Nygaard will explain how he
builds a criminal case against self-proclaimed psychics who commit
fortune-telling fraud, in order to cause these con artists to be arrested,
charged, and successfully prosecuted. Additionally, he will enumerate the
impediments that often exist when trying to bring self-proclaimed psychics to
justice and the strategies that he employs in his efforts to protect society
and make victims whole.
Bob Nygaard is a retired NYC cop (NYC Transit Police
District-3) (Nassau County NY Police), turned private investigator, turned
actor, who specializes in the identification, apprehension, and prosecution of
non-traditional organized crime suspects. Nygaard specializes in debunking and
causing con-artists, most notably self-proclaimed psychics, to be arrested and
he has recovered millions of dollars for fraud victims around the world.
Nygaard has appeared on ABC News' 20/20, Crime Watch Daily, The
Dr. Oz Show, The Security Brief with Paul Viollis podcast, Nancy
Grace, German TV show Achtung Abzocke, and numerous other news and
radio broadcasts, as an expert in confidence crimes. A short documentary
entitled NYGAARD has been filmed about his work. The documentary is a
self-reflective account of Nygaard's work helping the victims of psychic fraud.
Nygaard's first role as an actor in a SAG-AFTRA production came in the CBS
true-crime TV series Pink Collar Crimes, in which he portrays himself.
There will be an online question-and-answer segment after
the presentation.
https://www.ncas.org/2020/11/december-12-combating-fortunetelling.html
How to Watch and Participate in this Online Event:
1) Use a supported browser... https://www.youtube.com/supported_browsers
2) Use the link https://youtu.be/LypiIcN8V_8
. If typing the link, use capital "I" and an underscore
character.
3) The live stream begins shortly before 1:30pm
US/Eastern (UTC-05:00) on Saturday, December 12, 2020.
4) To post questions, you must be signed in to a Google
account.
5) Post your questions in the chat window to the right of
the video player when the live stream is active.
6) Click into where it says "Say something..." and
begin typing (up to 200 characters). Then click the send icon .
Along with your question, please post what city or town
you're in.
Message to Current and Prospective NCAS Members
In response to the economic hardship and other uncertainties
that our members may be facing, NCAS has automatically extended by one year all
memberships that expire in 2020 or later. Payment will be accepted for
new memberships as well as renewals for 2019 and before: new and renewed will
have a bonus year added. Each life member may sponsor a new one-year
membership at no charge. (Double life memberships may sponsor two.)
Send your sponsored member's name and contact information to ncas@ncas.org.
This offer will continue until further notice.
January NCAS Lecture
Our speaker will be award-winning investigative reporter Brian Deer,
author of the new book, The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Science, Deception,
and the War on Vaccines. Deer investigated the so-called "father
of the anti-vaccine movement," Andrew Wakefield, MD, who is now banned
from medicine, thanks to Deer's discoveries of rigged research and moneymaking
schemes. Saturday, January 9 at 1:30 PM ET, live on the NCASVideo YouTube
channel.
Torn From Today's Headlines
By Scott Snell
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Release
Report on "Havana Syndrome"
On December 5, the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine released their report on "Havana
Syndrome." An excerpt of the news release:
"Government personnel and their families at the U.S.
embassy in Havana, Cuba, in late 2016, and later at the U.S. consulate in
Guangzhou, China, began suffering from a range of unusual — and in some cases
suddenly occurring — symptoms such as a perceived loud noise, ear pain, intense
head pressure or vibration, dizziness, visual problems, and cognitive
difficulties, and many still continue to experience these or other health
problems. As part of its effort to ascertain potential causes of the
illnesses, inform government employees more effectively about health risks at
posts abroad, and determine best medical practices for screening, prevention,
and treatment for both short- and long-term health problems, the U.S.
Department of State asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and
Medicine to provide advice. After undergoing a security review, the
National Academies' report is now available."
Download the report, An Assessment of Illness in U.S.
Government Employees and Their Families at Overseas Embassies (2020), here:
https://www.nap.edu/download/25889
The news release:
https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2020/12/new-report-assesses-illnesses-among-us-government-personnel-and-their-families-at-overseas-embassies
Wikipedia's page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havana_syndrome
Belgian Skeptics Seek Crowdfunding after Multimillionaire
Takes Lawsuit to Appeals Court
Recently the president of the Belgium skeptics group SKEPP (https://skepp.be/)
emailed ncas.org,
seeking crowdfunded financial support for two SKEPP authors who
"criticized the content of the pseudo-scientific master classes as well as
the marketing tricks [Carl] Van de Velde [similar to Tony Robbins] uses to
attract participants." The authors won the lawsuit brought by Van de
Velde...
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=https://www.tijd.be/ondernemen/management-ondernemerschap/Succescoach-Carl-Van-de-Velde-verliest-rechtszaak-tegen-critici/10188850&prev=search&pto=aue
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20191208_04757355&prev=search&pto=aue
...but Van de Velde is taking the case to the Court of
Appeals. See the SKEPP site for more info about the case, and how to
contribute to the authors' legal defense:
https://skepp.be/en/psychologie-hrm-coaching/multimillionaire-sues-our-authors-why-bart-and-patrick-need-your-financial
AmazonSmile: Thanks to our members who are supporting NCAS!
When holiday shopping at smile.amazon.com, you'll find the same low
prices, vast selection, and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with
the added bonus that a portion of the purchase price (0.5%) goes to NCAS! It's
simple and automatic, and it doesn't cost you anything!
AmazonSmile's disbursements to NCAS in the third quarter of 2020 came to
$24.92, meaning that $5000 of purchases were designated in support of
NCAS. (As an example of how NCAS can put that money to good use, it's
enough to cover 75 minutes of a Montgomery County lecture room rental.)
Thanks again to our members who have chosen to support NCAS!
For more information:
https://smile.amazon.com/about
https://press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amazon-launches-amazonsmile-simple-automatic-way-customers
Shadow Light
Some members and contacts of NCAS receive a postal notification of this and
every new monthly Shadow of a Doubt. The Shadow Light
postcard announces the monthly lecture and highlights of the electronic Shadow
of a Doubt, which is available online at ncas.org/p/shadow.html. NCAS thereby
reduces Shadow production and postage costs. To further reduce
costs, members and contacts can opt out of postal notification altogether,
while continuing to receive Shadow of a Doubt via e-mail. To opt
out, send us an e-mail at ncas@ncas.org.
Time to Renew?
Be sure to check your renewal date above your postal address on the Shadow
Light postcard. Send any queries to ncas@ncas.org. Use
the online membership form to renew.
https://www.ncas.org/p/shadow.html
Brian Deer is a British investigative reporter, best known for
inquiries into the drug industry, medicine and social issues for The
Sunday Times. The Doctor Who Fooled the World is his
first book, followed this month by the science thriller Blind
Trial. Deer has won multiple awards and nominations for his
investigations for The Sunday Times and the UK's Channel 4
network, including two British Press Awards as the specialist
reporter of the year, and an honorary D.Litt degree. 