It was money well spent: At its peak, Psychic Friends was bringing in as much as $125 million a year, most of it through infomercials."

[4] According to Jack Schember, publisher of Response TV, a magazine that tracked the direct-response television industry, the PFN had "the most successful infomercial of all time.

"[5] According to USA Today, The Psychic Friends Network infomercials opened "the parody floodgates.

[8] In 2001, the bankruptcy trustees for the Psychic Friends Network sued MCI WorldCom Network Services Inc for mismanagement of billing and collections and won a judgement of $7.5 million in 2004, of which MCI eventually paid $4.1 million.

"[10] In April 2012, Lasky announced that "...the prevalence of such technologies as online chat, FaceTime, mobile text messaging, and social networking has created an environment in which psychic services can thrive online and on mobile devices rather than rely on phone lines.

"[11] On July 18, 2012, the Las Vegas Sun reported that The Psychic Friends Network was back, saying while "the company went bankrupt in the late '90s, founder Mike Lasky kept it on life support.

The company relaunched this summer with a new web platform full of social media, e-alerts and instant messaging, so you can connect with Zelda, Destiny and Midnight Magical Spirit through video, voice or text for 24/7 tarot, astrology, numerology, dream interpretation and other 'peeks.'

"[12] In January 2014, The Psychic Friends Network announced it had expanded operations to include a website utilizing video chat.

[13] The company said in its press release that "With the addition of VOIP chat platform, the Psychic Friends Network is now the only service in the psychic industry offering a full suite of connection methods, including phone, click to call, audio and video chat, and its soon-to-be-released mobile app.

[16] Mark Edward gave an insider's account of the organization's business model, as well as his dealing with clients, in his 2012 book Psychic Blues.

Edward told ABC that "he was taught techniques to keep his conversations vague, flattering and drawn out.