At the mention of Odette, Marine's eyes (first names have been changed) clouded over. She's worried about her mother's finances and even her sanity. For years after her husband's death, Odette has been writing almost daily to "Chris." This confidant has become so important that she can't bear to forget her cellphone, in case she misses an email from him. But Chris isn't just a pen pal: He also calls himself a "clairvoyant" and charges for his services. Marine, whom Le Monde spoke to at length, was never able to find out how much her mother paid him, despite having financial difficulties. Every time she broached the subject, it sparked a fierce argument.

Yet Chris has never heard of Odette. Almost all the messages that reach the pensioner are chain mail. Hundreds of people receive them at the same time, and Odette is just one line in a gigantic database of a machine that writes what she wants to read. She is the victim of a murky, long-standing and highly profitable industry. This kind of scheme, which leads internet users to believe that they are corresponding with a "psychic" when in fact the messages are automated or written by others, is well known. In the US, authorities consider it a scam and have been fighting it for two decades.

Thanks to internal documents, a wealth of open-source information and several eyewitness accounts, Le Monde can reveal the inner workings of a multinational company that has earned tens of millions of euros over the last 10 years from this activity. The French leaders of the business camouflaged their operations with shell companies and dummy corporations and duped Odette and hundreds of thousands of other victims.

Deceived customers

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