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Introducing: Denise Didn't Come Home
Smoke Screen is now The Binge Cases - new name, same home for thrilling true crime stories. Catch the new season, Denise Didn’t Come Home, on October 1st.
Karen Falasca last saw her 15 year old sist…
Published on 1 year, 2 months ago
The Greatest Scam Ever Written | 8. The Last Letter
Season 10 Episode 8
The defense attorneys for the man behind the scam argue the Duval scheme is no more deceptive than a magic show. But prosecutors make a strong case for fraud. In a last ditch effort to save himself, …
Published on 1 year, 3 months ago
The Greatest Scam Ever Written | 7. Call Me Blade
Season 10 Episode 7
Our host writes a handwritten letter to the mastermind behind the Duval letters in 2023. He’s impressed and reaches out. He’s never spoken to a journalist before. They start exchanging emails and cal…
Published on 1 year, 3 months ago
The Greatest Scam Ever Written | 6. DNA of a Scammer
Season 10 Episode 6
The mastermind behind the Maria Duval scam is revealed. Who is he and how did he operate one of the biggest scams in U.S. history? Investigative reporter Rachel Browne discovers this wasn’t his first…
Published on 1 year, 3 months ago
The Greatest Scam Ever Written | 5. The Runner
Season 10 Episode 5
U.S. Postal Inspector Clayton Gerber discovers that the letters are entering the country via Albany, NY, and that they’re originating from a company in Montreal. Locating criminals across the border …
Published on 1 year, 3 months ago
The Greatest Scam Ever Written | 4. The Swiss Swindlers
Season 10 Episode 4
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 schem…
Published on 1 year, 4 months ago
The Greatest Scam Ever Written | 3. One Man's Trash
Season 10 Episode 3
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 …
Published on 1 year, 4 months ago
The Greatest Scam Ever Written | 2. Psychic to the Stars
Season 10 Episode 2
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…
Published on 1 year, 4 months ago
The Greatest Scam Ever Written | 1. Your Devoted Friend
Season 10 Episode 1
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.…
Published on 1 year, 4 months ago
Introducing: The Greatest Scam Ever Written
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 …
Published on 1 year, 4 months ago