The Greatest Scam Ever Written | 2. Psychic t...

The Maria Duval letter scam began in Europe—so how did it make its way to America? U.S. Postal Inspector Clayton Gerber begins to unravel the threads of the scam when he discovers an address on Long Island, where victims are sending their replies to Duval. They also send intimate ...  Afficher plus

To find out how the scheme is operating in the present, we go back to how it all started. We know that two Swiss businessmen had bought Maria’s name and image to add legitimacy to their mailing scheme and launch letters across Europe. But who were these men? What motivated them t ...  Afficher plus

If you have psychic powers, you should see a scam coming a mile away. Not so for Maria Duval. The French psychic only wanted to use her powers for good, but three shady dealers used her name to create one of the world’s longest-running cons. Just because a letter has a coffee sta ...  Afficher plus

In 2018, The Perfect Scam brought you the story of the French psychic Maria Duval mail fraud impostor scheme. For decades, criminals, led by a man named Patrice Runner, used Duval's name and image on letters sent all over the U.S. and the world, promising goo ...

What’s poppin’ con-gregation? This week, we got Eric Mosley discussing how a psychic conned Vera Pratt, a well-traveled heiress, out of her inheritance under the guise of curing her of demons. Plus, one wife of former California State Senator is in hot water after a Bay Area news ...  Afficher plus