Peter Popoff

Peter Popoff is a German-born American televangelist and faith healer who became widely known in the 1980s for revival-style services and later for controversies over deceptive healing claims.

Peter Popoff is a German-born American televangelist and faith healer whose ministry was exposed as fraudulent in 1986. He continues to preach and sell religious products despite the controversy.

What it is

Peter Popoff is a televangelist and self-described faith healer. In the 1980s, he gained a following through revival-style services where he claimed to receive divine revelations about audience members. His ministry, Peter Popoff Ministries, has remained active for decades, with TV broadcasts and mail-order promotions.

How the exposure worked

In 1986, magician and skeptic James Randi publicly demonstrated that Popoff was receiving private information through a concealed earpiece. Popoff’s wife relayed details gathered from audience prayer cards, which Popoff then presented as supernatural knowledge. Randi’s investigation was broadcast and widely covered.

What happened afterward

Despite the exposure, Popoff continued his ministry and began selling products such as “miracle spring water” and debt-relief kits. Later reporting confirmed ongoing TV and mail promotions in the U.S., Canada, and the UK. Skeptics and journalists have described him as a fraud, while supporters view his work as sincere religious ministry.