Inside a Canadian man’s massive psychic scam

In today’s Big Story Podcast, this is the story of a scam that lasted for decades, and cost its victims over $200 million. It was run by a Canadian man, Patrice Runner, who now sits in an American prison. It sold the services of a psychic, but that wasn’t the problem with it — the issue was that the scammer used a particular psychic’s likeness without permission.

Rachel Browne is an investigative journalist and documentary producer, and she wrote about Patrice Runner for The Walrus.

“This whole case raises questions about the level of deceit in all advertisement, the level of deceit in the ways that things are marketed. I think this case kind of shows the importance of critical thinking and carefully examining promises that are being made wherever they’re coming from,” said Browne.

How did the scheme work, and who fell for it? Can you really scam people who are already voluntarily paying for a service that promises to tell you the future or make you rich? What can the saga of Patrice Runner teach us about the nature of deceit?

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