The Greatest Scam Ever Written

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-changing deal, her name becomes synonymous with one of the greatest scams ever written. 

The Greatest Scam Ever Written is part of The Binge - subscribe to listen to all episodes, all at once, ad-free right now.   From serial killer nurses to psychic scammers – The Binge is your home for true crime stories that pull you in and never let go.   Follow The Binge Crimes and The Binge Cases wherever you get your podcasts to get new stories on the first of the month, every month.   Hit ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the The Greatest Scam Ever Written show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com.

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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. In fact, hundreds of thousands of people had gotten a Duval letter, and gave an estimated $175m. How was this possible? 

The Greatest Scam Ever Written is part of The Binge - subscribe to listen to all episodes, all at once, ad-free right now.  From serial killer nurses to psychic scammers – The Binge is your home for true crime stories that pull you in and never let go.  Follow The Binge Crimes and The Binge Cases wherever you get your podcasts to get new stories on the first of the month, every month.  Hit ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the The Greatest Scam Ever Written show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com.

The Binge – feed your true crime obsession.

A Sony Music Entertainment & ITN Productions production.

Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts.

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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 sending out thousands of letters a week.

Investigative journalist Rachel Browne takes us through the facts of the fraud, from its brilliantly simple conception to the revelation and imprisonment of the fraudster themselves. Speaking through letters from behind bars, the con artist maintains their innocence, saying:  ‘Maybe it's not moral, maybe it's bullshit, but it doesn’t mean it's fraud.’

And that is the question at the heart of The Greatest Scam Ever Written: What happens if you want to believe that sending $50 to a psychic will change the course of your destiny? Are you a victim, or a willing participant?

The Greatest Scam Ever Written is part of The Binge - subscribe to listen to all episodes, all at once, ad-free right now.   From serial killer nurses to psychic scammers – The Binge is your home for true crime stories that pull you in and never let go.   Follow The Binge Crimes and The Binge Cases wherever you get your podcasts to get new stories on the first of the month, every month.   Hit ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the The Greatest Scam Ever Written show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com.  

The Binge – feed your true crime obsession.

A Sony Music Entertainment & ITN Productions production.

Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices