When a Manhattan mom working hard to clean hotel rooms gets conned out of her entire life savings by a fortune teller in the heart of New York City, you have to wonder: how many more times do we have to watch criminals get away with preying on the most vulnerable while the so-called “system” looks the other way?
At a Glance
- A Manhattan hotel cleaner and mother of two lost $87,000 to an alleged psychic scammer in Times Square.
- Pamela Ufie, the accused, faces grand larceny and fraud charges after promising to remove a “generational curse.”
- The case only reached police because of a private investigator, not because of proactive law enforcement.
- Despite New York’s law against fortune-telling for profit, prosecutions remain rare and enforcement is weak.
- The victim’s life savings, intended for her family’s future, are gone—and the legal outcome for Ufie remains uncertain.
Fortune-Telling Fraud Flourishes While Law Enforcement Looks Away
Picture this: a hardworking single mom spending years scrubbing floors and saving every dime, only to have it all snatched away by a fast-talking fortune teller promising to “lift a curse.” That’s exactly what happened in Manhattan, where Pamela Ufie, a self-proclaimed psychic, allegedly targeted a vulnerable 43-year-old woman in Times Square. Ufie convinced her victim that a dark force shadowed her family, and only a series of expensive rituals could save them. The result? An $87,000 disaster for a family that could least afford it.
That kind of scam isn’t new. New York City, with its tourist-packed sidewalks, has always attracted con artists. But here’s the kicker—fortune-telling for profit is actually illegal in New York State. That’s right: the law is on the books, but enforcement is almost nonexistent. Even with two previous grand larceny arrests, Ufie was reportedly free to work the same old tricks, undeterred by the threat of prosecution. Only when private investigator and retired NYPD officer Bob Nygaard got involved did police finally move to arrest Ufie near Bryant Park. Without someone like Nygaard pushing the point, these crimes rarely see the inside of a courtroom.
Victims Pay the Price While Scammers Walk Free
This mom’s story is gut-wrenching—she handed over her entire nest egg, money she’d spent years saving for a home, all because she wanted to protect her child from supposed supernatural harm. From April to October 2023, the victim paid Ufie repeatedly, each time hoping it was the last. That’s the hallmark of these scams: emotional manipulation, escalating payments, and promises that just one more ritual will finally break the curse. The last payment was in October. By July 2025, the damage was done, and the family’s future was gutted.
It’s a pattern seen over and over again, not just in New York but across the country. These predators don’t care who they hurt—if you’re vulnerable, you’re a target. And too often, law enforcement shrugs it off, treating the crime as a “civil matter.” Maybe if the victim were a Wall Street banker, the system would snap to attention. But a hotel cleaner? Sorry, she’s on her own. That’s the ugly reality, and it’s time to call it what it is: negligence rooted in bureaucratic indifference.
Broken System, Broken Trust—Who’s Protecting Families?
Where were New York’s “protectors” while this scam was happening? Busy wringing their hands about “social justice,” apparently, instead of enforcing laws already on the books. Law enforcement’s reluctance to treat psychic fraud as a real crime enables repeat offenders like Ufie to keep preying on families. Even after multiple arrests, she’s free to do it again—and again. Meanwhile, the victim is left with empty pockets, shattered faith in authority, and no sign of justice. If the system can’t protect its most vulnerable, what exactly are we paying for?
There’s a silver lining—sort of. Private investigator Nygaard’s persistence finally got Ufie arrested. She now faces charges of grand larceny and fraudulent accosting and has pleaded not guilty. The courts will decide her fate, but let’s not kid ourselves: even if she’s convicted, the chances of the victim getting her life savings back are slim to none. And unless the law starts being enforced with real consequences, scammers will just keep moving on to the next easy mark.
