Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction Against Psychic Reader's Network

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A judge has ordered the marketers behind television psychic Miss Cleo to stop calling customers who have asked not to be contacted and stop pressuring people to pay for calls they are disputing.

Cambria County Judge Gerard Long signed a preliminary injunction last week against Psychic Readers Network and its in-house billing agent, Access Resource Services, according to the Pennsylvania attorney general's office. A message left Friday with Access Resource was not returned.

The state filed a lawsuit in November accusing the companies, based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., of violating the state's Telemarketing Registration Act and other laws.

"This is a way to help the consumers until we're finished in the lawsuit," said Barbara Petito, spokeswoman for the attorney general's office.

The lawsuit said customers were charged up to $4.99 per minute for psychic telephone readings advertised as free. Residents who filed complaints with the state said they were charged between $29 and $700, according to the suit.

Speaking with a Caribbean accent, Miss Cleo appears in national television commercials promising insights into love, money and other personal matters.

Petito said the companies have agreed to the injunction.