Skeptics CircleIf other countries took this kind of action there would be a lot less quackery in the world. Toronto police have branded ‘psychic healer’ Alex Orbito a fake, and charged him with fraud and the posession of the proceeds of crime.

Mr Orbito hails from the Philippines, where he has undoubtedly fleeced many poor and gullible people of their life savings. Mr Orbito uses the old and oft-debunked trick of pretending to push his fingers into the bodies of his victims and extracting blood and tumors. What he ‘extracts’ are, according to the Toronto police, parts from a chicken. For a two minute conjuring trick like this, he was charging gullible Torontonians $135 and managed to make $80000 in 3 days.

It’s sad to see that a trick that has been debunked so often and by so many people is still fooling the weak and desperate and separating them from their hard-earned cash. It’s heartening to see that the Canadian police are willing to step in and do something about it.

Apparently news of Mr Orbito’s visit was spread by word of mouth. Hopefully the news of his arrest and the arrest of his promoter will be spread in the same way.