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Jul 2024
3m 34s

Introducing: The Greatest Scam Ever Writ...

Sony Music Entertainment
About this episode
What would you do if one handwritten letter promised to change your life forever? All of us want magic, to feel like there is some sort of exterior force guiding our next steps, to believe our fate is written in the stars. This is the story of 1 million hopeful Americans, the global scam that took $200m from them, and the mastermind who managed it all by ... Show More
Up next
Aug 2024
The Greatest Scam Ever Written | 1. Your Devoted Friend
What would you do if you got a mysterious letter promising to restore your health and vitality? Doreen Robinson wrote back and sent money to the French psychic named Maria Duval who’d written to her. As their relationship deepened, Doreen had no idea that she wasn’t the only one. ... Show More
38m 25s
Aug 2024
The Greatest Scam Ever Written | 2. Psychic to the Stars
Who was Maria Duval? Her son says she had a gift, an ability to see people’s futures. She helped locate missing people and worked with the French elite, befriending Jacques Chirac and Brigitte Bardot. In the late 80s, when two businessmen approached Maria Duval with a life-changi ... Show More
38m 33s
Aug 2024
The Greatest Scam Ever Written | 3. One Man's Trash
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 ... Show More
40m 3s
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