The Psychic Swindle 2025

French psychic Maria Duval seems to have it all-fame, wealth, and adoration. She gains international recognition for helping find more than a dozen missing people, predicting lottery numbers, and advising politicians and celebrities. But her insatiable desire for more riches leads her to a fateful business partnership with entrepreneur and copywriter Patrice Runner. It was a perfect match as Runner, like Duval, wanted a lifestyle full of luxury and excitement. The Psychic Swindle unravels the intricate mail-order psychic scam that duped millions of people worldwide over 20 years. The scam in North America was led by entrepreneur and copywriter, Patrice Runner, who used the name and likeness of legendary French Psychic Maria Duval. Through meticulous investigations, exclusive archive, and intimate interviews, the film exposes how this exploitation of human hopes and fears resulted in one of the largest psychic scams in history, culminating in a global manhunt and a high-profile criminal trial. The Psychic Swindle is based on the article, The Greatest Scam Ever Written, written by Rachel Browne for The Walrus. The Psychic Swindle was produced with the participation of the Canada Media Fund.