3 arrested for running fake Dr. Phil, psychic hotlines

Three local women were arrested this week on charges that they scammed 13 people out of as much as $20,000 by falsely promising them telephone counseling with Dr. Phil McGraw, his wife Robin and television psychic Sylvia Browne. According to the indictment, the women — Ann Theresa Stevens, Serena Stevens and Cher Evans — set up fake toll-free phone numbers for the Dr. Phil show and Browne last fall; when people would call, they would ask the callers to send hundreds of dollars via Western Union in exchange for counseling sessions.

McGraw found out about the scam last year and came to Houston to confront the women he believed were running it. His staff members visited a fortune teller's establishment where they believed the calls were being answered and invited the women they met there to a bachelorette party — which turned out to be a chance for McGraw to tell them what he thought. "I don't appreciate you ripping off my viewers!" he told the women. "I don't appreciate you people saying that you produce the Dr. Phil show." The women left and McGraw said he thought he had scared them, but he still intended to press charges. (The whole incident was apparently featured on McGraw's show.) According to McGraw's website, callers to the toll-free numbers would sometimes end up talking to people pretending to be McGraw, his wife or Browne; in one instance, Robin McGraw herself called, wired money and was told she would soon be speaking with herself. "Robin calls Western Union and makes the transaction," the online account reads. "She calls the scammers back to set up an appointment. 'Am I going to talk to Robin today?' she asks. 'Yes, definitely,' Cher tells her." (No, not that one.) Browne told the Chronicle that she has run into impersonators before and imagines she will again: "The problem is, as soon as you close down one of these, there are 10 more. They are like ants. It's so frustrating, honey, I don't know how to stop it," she said.

The indictment alleges that the three women bilked callers out of somewhere between $1,500 and $20,000, though sources told the Chronicle that the final amount will probably be somewhere around $10,000. The women face third-degree felony charges, which mean they could be sentenced to 10 years in prison and $10,000 fines.