Day after day after day after day we receive many letters from frightened and defrauded people. Many of these people are TERRIFIED at giving their names, and the names of the perpetraitors of harm against them. Even if they were willing to out their perp, most of them have little or no evidences of the harm done against them, such as receipts or pictures; and usually only have their own word against the scum-of-the-earth that has preyed upon them.

The high control groups that we deal with on a day to day basis all have something in common. There is no religious body of authority which they must answer to. Practitioners of the fine-art-of-the-scam may hang their Santero, Babalawo, Palero, Brujo, New Age Witch or Healer, Card Reader, Occultist shingle anywhere and conduct their BUSINESS under the guise of "religion" without anyone being able to do much about it. New age bookstores, botanicas, iles, covens, internet sites etc. being some of the most fertile ground to "fleece the flock."

We think the answer to this problem is "secret shopping." Secret shopping is a 100% legitimate technique of improving customer service and value. Businesses and organizations small and large use thousands of "secret shoppers" everyday to play out a script, check the quality, service they get, and report back on the results. Now with so many "secrets" in these religions at premium prices, it's about time the tables were turned. On this page we are going to explain how YOU can become a "secret shopper" and help save many lives.

About being a "secret shopper" ::
• You don't have to hate these religions, be a religious abuse survivor, be an atheist etc ad nauseum. EVERYONE is invited to participate regardless of religious status.
• You choose the scenerio under which to "shop", whether it be a scripted one or even a real one.

What does a secret shopper do?
• A secret shopper will contact clergy, iles, witches, psychics, readers, etc. by either email, instant message, or in person visits for consultations and/or readings. The secret shopper will use either a script or go as a real follower or client to obtain consultations, ask questions, obtain services. The secret shopper will report back with evidence from the visit (more on that in a minute) which will eventually be compiled with others results and published here on this website.

What are the ways I can contact these groups and persons and collect the evidence?
• Email. There are literally THOUSANDS of new age, santeria, occult practitioners online who have people emailing them with questions and requests EVERYDAY. Email is the most simple of all the evidence collection methods and provides the greatest, "bang for the buck" shall we say, because email doesn't involve any cost and has a great impact.
   
  Email exchanges collected between the secret shopper and the "religious" service provider should be forwarded AS ATTACHMENTS, *absolutely NO inline mails forwarded will be accepted*. If you are unsure of how to forward email as an attachment please email us for help. Send your email to:
  the_believers@yahoo.com
• Instant Messengers.Another great and free way to "shop" for "religious" serivice providers. You can do anything with IM that you can do with email practically, though they are a bit different in terms of what we need if you decide to do this. Most instant messengers save logs of conversations into text files. Unfortunately, for publishing purposes, that's not going to be sufficient. What you must do is take a screen shot of the entire instant message session. This will make a picture file that you will send to us. If you would like to shop by instant messenger, but are unsure how to save a screen shot, please email us for help. Send your instant messenger to:
  the_believers@yahoo.com
• In Person Visits.This can get tricky, but it can be done successfully. It's likely though that you are going to have to shell out at least the amount of what they charge for a first time consultation. This method is probably best suited for those who are in these religions and are visting religious service providers for the first time (changing a house, having a problem, seeking initiations, etc). Though this method isn't limited to first time visits only. If you suspect fraud or abuse in the group or religious leader you have been associating with this is also a good method of evidence collection.
   
  What this method involves in carrying a concealed tape recorder to a visit or inviting the practitioner to your home and setting up a hidden camera. You simply record the activity between yourself and the group or person. You will then transfer those tapes to a data format like mp3 and email them to us. If you need help tranferring files to the mp3 or avi formats, email us for help. Send your audio and video files to:
  the_believers@yahoo.com

May I send phone recordings?
• NO. Recording someone over the phone without their knowledge is illegal. We will not accept telephone files.

Do I represent "The Believers" site or support group or any administrator or contributor of this site when I do a "secret shop?"
• NO. We DO NOT employ secret shoppers and anyone "shopping" does not represent our site or anyone responsible for our site at any time. All we do is collect data that people VOLUNTARILY send to us. This is cyberspace and we ARE NOT and cannot responsible for the actions of ANYONE except ourselves. We are a data collection and information public service site ONLY. You represent yourself when you do a "secret shop."