Online Psychic Readings: I Tested 72 Across 5 Platforms (and Found the $350 Scam Kit)

When my last relationship ended, I did something I’m only a little embarrassed to admit: I went looking for answers in the stars. And the tarot. And whatever a “love Chakra blockage” is.

Two things happened that first week. One psychic told me my ex and I were “twin flames going through a growth period,” which felt nice for about forty-five seconds. Another diagnosed a love Chakra blockage, apparently a real thing you can have, and offered to fix it. The fix was a $350 energy cleaning kit.

Three hundred and fifty dollars. For a kit.

So yeah, I got curious. Then I got stubborn. Between May 2025 and this past July, I tested 72 online psychics across 5 platforms, 18 on Kasamba, 25 on California Psychics, 18 on Keen, 8 on Purple Garden, and 5 on Psychic Source, with a pool of 25 testers who were all, like me, going through breakups. We cross-checked everything against Trustpilot and forums so we weren’t just trusting our own gut.

I’ll spoil the ending: the best reading I got was free. It happened in a park, sitting on a bench, listening to my own intuition. But it took 72 paid readings to get me there, and along the way I learned what these sessions actually cost, which platforms treat you fairly, and how to spot the fakes before they spot your wallet. Here’s all of it.

What is an online psychic reading, exactly?

It’s a live session with a psychic over phone, chat, or video, or, if you’d rather not talk to anyone while someone’s napping in the next room, you can send a text question through Purple Ocean and get a recorded video reply back, usually within about 24 hours. That async option was honestly my favorite discovery of the whole project. No appointment, no camera, no whispering.

The mechanics are the same everywhere: you create an account, browse profiles and rates, pick your format, and add funds or use an intro package. Most platforms work on per-minute billing, which matters a lot more than it sounds like it does. We’ll get to that.

The formats you can pick from

California Psychics is mostly phone-first, no video, so nobody’s surprised mid-checkout. Purple Garden does phone and chat. If you like the intimacy of a voice call without watching anyone’s face, a phone reading is the classic for a reason.

What happens in a session, and what becomes a record

Here’s the part no guide tells you, and I need to give it the weight it deserves, because it’s heavy.

In 2016, a Santa Barbara man named Pierre Hopp murdered Dr. Henry Han along with Jenny, his wife, and their 5-year-old daughter, Emily. They were found March 23, 2016, in their family garage. Emily was three days shy of her sixth birthday. Dr. Han ran a busy herb clinic in town; as one community member put it, “You don’t replace a Henry Han.“

Hopp was caught within hours. But here’s the detail that ties this to the thing you’re reading about: before his arrest, he sent a message to an online psychic said that Will they get caught for what they did? The reply: “What did you do, Pierre?“

That exchange became trial evidence. In a courtroom, your psychic chat is a written record of what you said and when, exactly like any other message. Prosecutors read it out loud at a bench trial that opened October 25, 2021, and Hopp was found guilty on all counts that November and sentenced April 15, 2022, to three life terms without parole. One witness, TJ Darita, waited 2 days before calling detectives, and that delay became a credibility issue at trial. The Supreme Court denied his petition by March 2025.

The investigation had its breakthroughs, too: detectives traced Home Depot purchases to build the timeline, and a Walmart parking-lot duffel bag transfer handed them physical evidence. The story also had its stranger layers, including perpetual energy machine demos that were exposed via a car battery and underground wires, and TJ Darita declining an all-expenses-paid Vegas trip because he suspected a fall-guy setup. There were even kernels of truth buried in it: his father’s CIA obituary and a Bravo Newlyweds appearance. The con wraps itself around just enough reality to survive.

I’m not telling you this because psychics are criminals. They’re not, this was one horrifying outlier, and 48 Hours and its Postmortem podcast covered the full case if you want it. I’m telling you because the practical takeaway is real: every chat you send is permanent. Assume anything you type can be read back to you someday by someone you never imagined. (If you’re weighing in-person against online, we’ve got a full look at finding a psychic near me.)

Are online psychics legit? The honest answer

No, online psychic readings aren’t fully legit, and no, they aren’t all scams either. The honest answer from testing 72 of them: you judge each session, not the platform. Some readers were clearly working a script. A handful produced things we still can’t explain. Both things are true.

What we know going in:

• There’s no scientific proof psychic ability exists. There was a $1 million prize for anyone who could demonstrate it. Nobody claimed it, and the prize was discontinued in 2015. A million dollars, sitting there. That tells you something.
• Most “uncanny” readings have ordinary explanations. Cold reading is when someone picks up cues from what you say and how you react and reflects them back. Hot reading is when they’ve researched you beforehand. The Barnum effect, our tendency to see ourselves in vague statements that could apply to anyone, does the rest.
• The counter-evidence is real too. About half the Keen readers we tested came across as cold readers. And yet Eileen’s prediction that my relationship would end came true about a month later. And Thalia was the only reader out of 72 to pick up on “another girl”, later confirmed by the tester involved.
• The textbook red flag exists in the wild. One psychic, Anastasia, gave two different testers nearly identical readings, down to Your wish will come true on the 17th. Different people. Same prophecy. That’s the Barnum effect with a receipt.
• Regulators have been here before. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), with consumer protection chief J. Howard Beales III leading the push, went after the Psychic Readers Network in 2002 over advertised “free” readings and billing practices; the settlement included charge forgiveness and restrictions on how they operated.

So: not a debunking, not an endorsement. A calibration. Judge the session, not the sign-up page. (More on this in our fuller look at whether online psychic readings are legit.)

Who is the most accurate online psychic?

Accuracy in online psychic readings is per-reader and per-session, not a platform feature, and across 72 tested psychics, we found only a handful of verified examples. Uli ($17/min on California Psychics) is the name that came up most on raw accuracy from our testers, if the budget fits. No platform badge means “accurate.” No price tag does either. Here’s what actually happened with the names that stood out.

Eileen’s prediction that came true

Eileen charges $5 a minute on California Psychics, or $1 a minute for your first 20 minutes, she’s my budget pick for that reason alone. But she made the list because of the receipts: she told me my relationship was ending. About a month later, it did. I’m one person with one story, and one prediction isn’t proof of powers.

But a Redditor separately reported an Eileen prediction that played out over four years, down to a detailed physical description. That’s one person’s account too. Still, twice is more interesting than zero.

Thalia and the “another girl” pickup

Thalia, $8.50 a minute, was the only reader in the entire project to pick up on “another girl”, and the tester later confirmed it. Forum verdict on the same reading: “ON THE NOSE about his personality.” Out of 72 readers, exactly one caught it. That’s the difference between a generic reading and a specific one, and it’s the bar every paid session has to clear.

Why “most accurate” is the wrong question

Other names worth knowing: Uli ($17/min) blew our testers away with accuracy, if the budget fits. Mattie ($20/min) is wildly popular, her signature line is it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when, but she’s expensive and genuinely hard to reach. And Anastasia’s copy-paste readings to two different people show how easy “accurate” is to fake. Single verified outcomes aren’t proof of ability.

The question isn’t “who’s the most accurate psychic,” it’s did this specific session tell me something I didn’t hand over myself. (We dig into that more in our piece on evaluating psychic accuracy.)

Choosing a platform: five tested, five trade-offs

The tested online psychic platforms trade off vetting, price, and format. California Psychics vets hardest, Kasamba costs least, Purple Garden works by text. Here’s the coffee-chat version of each.

• California Psychics, the vetting story is real: only 2% of psychic applicants get in. Welcome credit of $80 (up to $100 off your first reading), plus 20-minute readings at $1/min and an extra $10 credit with code New10. 24/7 support and a satisfaction guarantee, so a bad reading doesn’t leave you stuck eating it. Cons: the site’s navigation and offers are confusing, and the top readers are hard to reach, call customer care to get into their queue. Mostly phone, not video. Founded 1989.
• Kasamba, founded 1999, which is ancient internet-wise. New users get 3 free minutes with 3 different psychics plus 50% off, and prices are reasonable ($2.49, $10.49 a minute for most of who we tested). Some genuinely great readers hide in there. Cons: some psychics sell spells, and the messaging terms are unclear. If money’s tight, start here, it was my budget pick.
• Keen, one of the oldest platforms around. Intro is $1 for 5 minutes plus a welcome credit, which is a low-risk test. But thousands of readers means choosing feels like standing in a huge store with no list. I’ve abandoned carts over less. Roughly half the Keen psychics we tested read as cold readers, so your guard needs to be up. Pricier than Kasamba, and one tester never got support to respond at all.
• Purple Garden / Purple Ocean, $30 free credit, and the async model: send a text question, get a recorded video answer within about 24 hours. Great for follow-up-question people whose schedules are pure chaos. Cons: the readers felt average to us, the app-versus-website split is confusing, and budget limited how much we could test here. I’ll say that plainly, we didn’t test everything.
• Psychic Source, founded 1989, genuinely pre-internet. $1/min for 30 minutes for new customers. Mostly ethical readers but expensive, and the cheap ones underperformed. Full honesty: we only tested 5 readers here, so treat our verdict as a small sample.

Two more you might see: Psychic World offers a free account and PayPal checkout, that PayPal detail matters if you’re wary of handing card numbers to a new site. Their listings claim Rainbow Catriona has a 4.97 from 11,001 reviews. Linglin Spiritual also sits at 4.97, but from 72 reviews. That second number is the one to squint at.

And a 2026 report from The Psychic Experts (founded 2025; press release published August 26, 2026; claims 318K+ users, which I can’t confirm) evaluated platforms only on verifiable terms, pricing display, intro versus standard rates, billing and refund policies, format choice, and pointedly didn’t try to verify psychic ability. Neither are we.

The paperwork is the part you can actually check. (Our full best-online-psychic roundup covers more of this.)

The best readers on each platform, tier by tier

This is the shortlist, with rates and the honest caveats attached. Rates were what we observed during testing starting May 2025 and updated July 6, they change, so double-check before booking.

Kasamba picks and avoids

Danielle ($2.49/min) flagged a dating partner’s lie to one tester, and the lie was confirmed. Keep that one in your back pocket. Delaney ($4.99) is fast, blunt, and some of her predictions came true, though blunt can sting. Yazmin ($4.99) is honest, compassionate, and sharp on your present situation.

EffieK ($4.99) was truthful and consistent, per our tester, “not overly sugarcoated, just honest“, but she can come off rude when the answer is bad. SuNNNNi ($3.99) for career questions. LoveWealthSuccess (around $4.99). Stephanie Theresa ($7.49) told one tester she couldn’t connect and was great with another, which is exactly how readings actually work. Jennifer W ($7.99) is honest and ethical.

Avoid: Sonya Starr Angel, a spell-seller at $24.99/min whose zero negative reviews are themselves suspicious. Also Sherry Taylor, Master Enigma, Supernormal Soul (sells cleansing rituals), Donovan (slow typing, remember, the meter’s running), and Extreme Psychic Mediums, whose price rose after a deliberate delay.

California Psychics picks and avoids

Eileen ($5) for budget with a track record. Uli ($17) for accuracy. Stevie ($8.50) and Tommy ($7.50) for career. Tommy picked things up with barely any info from testers, which unsettled everyone in the best way. Tara ($10) for tarot, accurate though one tester found her a bit judgmental.

Venus ($17), a no-nonsense channeler, though some of her timelines came and went, worth naming gently. Anais and Rika for mediumship and grief work. Abrielle ($13) for remote viewing. Natasha ($10) for speed.

Thalia ($8.50). Mattie ($20), popular and hard to reach.

Avoid: Caleb (vague), Asia (tells you what you want to hear), Pollyanna (fairytale reader), and Eriq, who was way off and left the platform as of July 2026.

Keen picks and avoids

Ruby Jane Star ($3.82) is great over the phone, praised on forums, and pairs perfectly with the $1-for-5-minutes intro as a cheap trial. Sincerity ($15.88) has a real forum following and strong visions, but timing isn’t her thing and there’s no intro offer, know that going in. Barbara4846 ($7.38) is accurate on existing situations; testers suggest starting with general questions. Divine Love ($5.99) is accurate across past, present, and future per testers, but forum reviews are mixed.

Gina Marie ($6.49) asks for the other person’s birthday, has a calm voice, and works as an empath and remote viewer. Northstar Julie ($7.95) is popular, hard to book, and gives big-picture clarity when you get her.

One of my favorite honest notes from a tester, about Walks With Thunder at $7.77/min: if you want to spend $7.77/minute talking with a wise old man, he’s wonderful. I just wouldn’t call him a Psychic. I respect that review more than most five-star walls.

Avoid: JourneyBySpirit, QueenofCups18 (more on her below, she’s the cold-reading case study), Elizabeth of the Light (fear tactics), Evanora Flores, Ask Fran (generic, one tester said it was like asking ChatGPT), and Tracy Tallulah, who basically paraphrased the tester’s own questions back.

Purple Garden and Psychic Source picks

Purple Garden: John Luke ($5.99) is calming and kind and “somewhat” accurate. I’m keeping that word because it’s the honest one. Readings By Gina ($4.99) is hit-or-miss on forums, but our tester had a good experience. Psychic Jewels ($4.99, also cited at $3.99) does love readings only and refuses to give timelines, which testers saw as a good sign, not a flaw.

Psychic Norrell ($3.99) works with LGBTQ folks and sensitive topics; she has a bad Trustpilot page and our testers still recommend her. Both things are true. I’m not going to pretend that adds up.

Avoid: Turkish Gypsy Ellie Hassan (fairytale seller, $18.49) and Psychic Logan (scripted).

Psychic Source: Eliza ($7.45) is the top empath, and Bridgette ($20.99) handles love and grief. Sammie and Bonnie left testers doubtful, that’s softer than an avoid, but honest.

One contrarian principle before you scroll on: the most valuable thing a psychic can do is refuse. Psychic Jewels declining timelines, Tatiana withholding the fairy tale a tester badly hoped for, Stephanie Theresa admitting she couldn’t connect, a reader who turns down what they can’t do is more trustworthy than one who answers everything. That’s the exact opposite of what a wall of five-star reviews rewards. And full disclosure: some names came up just once from testers. One mention isn’t a recommendation.

What an online psychic reading really costs

An online psychic reading costs between about $1.49 and $24.99 per minute across the major platforms, based on rates we observed during May 2025 testing. Those are snapshot prices and they change, so treat every number here as “as of when we looked.”

Per-minute rates by platform

Intro offers for new users

• Kasamba: 3 free minutes with 3 different psychics, plus 50% off
• Keen: $1 for 5 minutes, plus a welcome credit
• Purple Garden: $30 free credit
• California Psychics: $80 welcome credit, up to $100 off the first reading, 20 minutes at $1/min plus $10 credit with code New10
• Psychic Source: $1/min for 30 minutes

Celebrity pricing and the price-quality trap

At the very top sits Matt Fraser, who charges $650 per private reading with a two-year waitlist. His $27 group online readings are the realistic version. Waiting, in other words, saves money.

The real trap is quieter: the decision is the rate plus the intro offer together, and per-minute billing burns through intro credit before you feel it happening. The middle of the market clusters at $5, $10 a minute, and on Psychic Source the cheap readers underperformed, so cheap isn’t automatically good either. Time-boxing your session matters more than finding the absolute cheapest reader. Decide before you dial how many minutes you’re spending, and set a timer.

Buyer rule: Decide your minute count and set a timer before you dial — per-minute billing eats intro credit faster than you’ll notice.

Is there a free online psychic reading worth trying?

“Free” online psychic readings are really intro minutes or credits, and the closest thing to a genuinely free test is Kasamba’s 3 free minutes with 3 different psychics. That’s enough to comparison-shop three readers and feel the difference between them, which is worth more than one long reading with a stranger.

The full offer stack:

• Kasamba: 3 free minutes × 3 psychics, plus 50% off afterward
• Keen: $1 for 5 minutes, plus a welcome credit
• Purple Garden: $30 credit, a real trial run, enough to actually find out if this is for you
• California Psychics: $80, $100 in welcome credit
• Psychic Source: $1/min for 30 minutes

The play is the same everywhere: use free minutes to sample different readers, not to bank everything on one. Psychic World also offers a free account with PayPal checkout; their listing stats (Rainbow Catriona at 4.97 from 11,001 reviews; Dorina at 4.95 from 1,721 reviews with 40 years’ experience; Cindy New at 4.92 from 49 reviews; Britney New at 4.93 from 30 reviews; Anitta at 4.83 from 24 reviews) are promotional claims, and the small review counts deserve the same side-eye you’d give any too-good listing. For more on what those free minutes really buy, see our guide to free online psychic readings.

How to spot a fake psychic before you spend money

Fake psychics follow a recognizable pattern, and you can spot most of them within the first five minutes if you know the script. I know because I lived it.

The upsell playbook, step by step

Mine went like this: a reading that felt warm and accurate for most of the session. Then, late, after I was invested, after trust was built, the “love Chakra blockage” appeared. And wouldn’t you know, the blockage had a price tag: a $350 energy cleaning kit. The problem showed up exactly when it could be sold to. That’s the arc, in four steps: an invented diagnosis, a purchasable fix, fear, and a deadline.

Here’s the part I won’t hedge on: spellcasters and curse-removal services are scams, full stop. Spells can’t make someone fall in love, cure an illness, or win the lottery. That goes for a “white magic spell” wrapped in ribbons and good intentions, too, same scam, gentler branding. Kasamba has spell-sellers on it, skip anyone selling you a spell, no matter how many candles are in the profile photo.

Red flag: A “blockage” or “curse” that appears only after you’re emotionally invested — and always comes with a price tag — is the upsell playbook, not a diagnosis.

The tells: review walls, fear tactics, and rising prices

A few more things to watch. Elizabeth of the Light on Keen used fear tactics. Extreme Psychic Mediums raised their price after a deliberate delay, urgency is a sales tactic, not a prophecy. Sonya Starr Angel charges $24.99 a minute and has zero negative reviews, and a too-perfect review wall is itself suspicious.

And one careful heads-up: there’s a single report of fear tactics involving Mia from SpiritualSociety.co. It’s unverified, we didn’t investigate further, and I can’t tell you it’s a pattern, but she’s still advertising on social media, so caution seems reasonable.

Two counter-tests you can run in the first five minutes

Test one: withhold the details and stay calm. A cold read works by feeding off what you leak. Compare “I am dying here, does he miss me??” with a flat one: how does Mike feel about me.

Same question. One of them hands the reader everything. The other makes them work.

Test two: notice when the problem appears. If a “blockage,” “curse,” or “dark energy” surfaces only after you’re emotionally invested and always comes with a price, you’ve met the playbook. The concrete flag we saw in testing: QueenofCups18 changed her reading the moment she got new information. A real reader’s story doesn’t morph to match whatever you just told them. (More red flags in our piece on how to tell legit readings from scams.)

Protecting a parent or loved one from psychic exploitation

Protecting someone you love starts with two grooming signs: isolation from family, and escalating payments. If you see both, it’s time to act, and I’ll tell you who to call in a second.

The Slate case: isolation like a romance scam

Slate‘s Pay Dirt column ran a letter that’s stayed with me. A woman in her seventies was being financially and socially manipulated by online psychics, they told her family was against her, and she gradually pulled away from the people who loved her. The columnist’s advice was to bring in Adult Protective Services even if it cost the friendship. That’s the hard right thing, and I hope I’d have the nerve.

I’m not diagnosing her situation from a distance. I’m telling you the shape of it, because the shape is what you watch for.

The scale of this is real: AARP estimated in 2023 that elder financial abuse costs Americans more than $28 billion a year. Sit with that number for one second. Okay. Now here’s who to call:

• National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311), weekdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. The hours matter, nobody should call at 9 p.m., hit voicemail, and feel defeated.
• FBI IC3 (ic3.gov): where you actually report online fraud.
• Eldercare Locator: 1-800-677-1116, the “who can even help with this” answer.
• Adult Protective Services in your state, for the hands-on intervention.

If this is your mom, your aunt, or you, the numbers are right there. Copy them somewhere you can find them.

Matching the reader to your situation

For love and relationship questions, the tested standouts include Eileen ($5/min with a verified track record), Thalia on California Psychics, Psychic Source’s Bridgette, and Kasamba’s Delaney and Yazmin, matched to what you need, not a ranking. Our whole tester pool was going through breakups, so heartbreak questions are honestly what got tested hardest. That’s the one area I can speak to with real confidence.

The broader specialty map, from who our testers actually liked:

• Mediumship and grief: Anais, Rika, and Psychic Source’s Bridgette. This is the highest-stakes, most ethically sensitive corner of the industry. Forever Family Foundation exists as a vetting resource for mediumship, with the honest caveat that we can’t personally vouch for their process. If you’re hoping to feel closer to someone who’s passed, go in with gentle expectations; our take on online medium readings covers what a session can and can’t do.
• Career: Stevie, Tommy, and Kasamba’s SuNNNNi.
• Remote viewing: Abrielle and Gina Marie.
• Love and relationships: Thalia, Delaney, Psychic Jewels.
• Empath work: Eliza.

And the integrity principle applies hardest here: a reader who refuses timelines, like Psychic Jewels, protects you from the “sit and wait” trap that keeps people paying for months. A reader who promises you a date should worry you.

Free alternatives: AI, intuition, and therapy

Not every answer needs a paid session, and some of the most useful things I learned came from the free options. Here’s what AI, therapy, and plain old intuition each did better than any of the 72 readers I paid.

The AI baseline: Ask Fran and the ChatGPT floor

Ask Fran on Keen charges $2.99 a minute, and a tester’s verdict was that the reading was something they could have just asked ChatGPT. That’s the floor any paid reader has to beat, and it’s also the honest answer to whether you can swap an AI in for free. A chatbot can absolutely produce the generic-reading experience at no cost; that’s what AI psychic chat mostly is. What it can’t do is what the best readers did: land on something specific against information you deliberately withheld. The Barnum effect is why generic readings feel accurate anyway. Your brain is a very willing co-author.

Therapy versus the best psychic

Here’s my plain, unsponsored judgment: a good therapist beat the best psychic I paid for, by a lot, for emotional clarity. I know that’s not the fun answer and it’s not free, but it’s true. And to be clear, therapy isn’t a substitute for professional mental-health care in a crisis, and a psychic isn’t either. If you’re really struggling, please talk to someone qualified.

But if you’re deciding between a $170 reading and a therapy copay, I know which one left me actually steadier. Yeah, this part just sucks, and there’s no hack for it.

The best reading I ever had was free

After all 72 readings, the one that actually helped happened on a park bench. I sat there, cried a bit, listened to my own intuition, not my hope, my intuition, and concluded the thing I’d paid five platforms to have confirmed: he wasn’t coming back. No incense, no per-minute billing. It cost nothing and it was worth more than everything else combined.

Running your first session: a mom’s playbook

After 72 readings, the difference between a good session and a wasted one usually came down to what happened before and after the call, not during it. Here’s the playbook I wish I’d had on day one.

Before you book

Read profiles past the five-star wall. The pattern we kept seeing: new buyers book the most expensive, most-reviewed reader assuming price equals quality, then get a generic reading, and the disconnect only shows up after the money’s spent. Cross-check Trustpilot and independent forums together; the Redditor whose Eileen prediction played out over four years is exactly why you want more than one channel of information. (Our Reddit picks deep dive covers what real users report.) Look for staff-pick and rising-stars sections too, sometimes the untested names are the honest ones.

And set a strict time and budget before you dial. Per-minute billing eats intro credits fast. Good recurring-check-in picks under $5/min: Psychic Lynn at $1.49, Danielle at $2.49, Ruby Jane Star at $3.82, SuNNNNi at $3.99.

During the session

Withhold personal details. Stay calm, see the Mike line above. Notice whether the reader gets specific without fishing. And if your schedule is chaos, remember the async option: live chat has its place, but a recorded video reply can land during nap time without anyone knowing you’re mid-reading.

After the reading: scoring it honestly

Judge by verified outcomes, not by how the session felt. Feelings are exactly what cold reading is built on. Ask yourself three things before booking, is this legit, will they actually help, could they exploit where I’m vulnerable, and one thing after: was the reading specific against what I withheld, or could it have applied to anyone? Even a bad $5 session teaches you something, and that’s a cheap tuition compared to a $350 energy cleaning kit.

The part where I tell you what I actually think

I still check in with psychics. Kasamba is still my pick when I do. But somewhere between the twin-flames pitch and the park bench, my job description for them changed: they confirm what my gut already says. I’ve stopped expecting them to hand me my own truth.

That’s the whole calibration, really. Psychics can help, some of them, some of the time, within boundaries you set. Your own judgment, your boundaries, and for the heavy grief stuff, a good therapist, carry the actual weight.

Seventy-two paid readings across five platforms. The best one was free, on a bench, in a park. Take that with you.

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