Talk:Maria Duval

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Clarity[edit]

"These services usually costs about 100 USD, but in this special case the recipient gets a discount and only has to pay about half the normal price." Can this be expressed better, to indicate that the "reduction" is part of the scam? In what sense is there any "normal price"? --Hugh7 (talk) 07:37, 22 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

This looks (after a mere almost 3 years of it staying that way :-) like a job for scare quotes! I'll add some. --Groyolo (talk) 23:14, 9 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Sad[edit]

I found "her" advertisement in a popular woman's magazine in a waiting room. I sent off for her magic talisman, once using my own address and again using my neighbor's address. We found that what was sent back was identical (that which was for me and that for my neighbor) as well as the follow-up reports which were supposedly about these two individuals (we gave false names). Of course, we didn't send out any money, but I know of people that have. It's sad when people get sucked into these things. --58.169.249.32 07:46, 12 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it's sad when people believe these things and send money (sometimes lots of money). Its really a gang of criminals trying to steal money from vulnerable people. That's why I created this article. Hopefully it will prevent some people from falling for their scam. Waninge 14:22, 12 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

New advertising methods[edit]

I just found an advertisement in a booklet of coupons that was delivered (to everyone) in Switzerland. But their tactic seems to have changed. The advertisement was addresses only to people born between two specific dates (between 1932 and 1969 so still quite alot) and offered a free consultation as well as her 'famous talisman' and promised luck in the near future. It even said "Important: Don't send any money". I suspect they did that publicly for legal reasons and hope to (and sadly will) make money by directly advertising to those people. Does anyone think that tactic deserves to be mentioned in this article? Eifachoeppis (talk) 16:59, 1 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Epic fail[edit]

My sister showed me a recent unsolicited letter from "Maria Duval" to her husband that bemoaned his bad luck, especially with money. He'd had a successful career, a happy marriage with four children and ten grandchildren, and had never had serious money issues. (Unlucky? As an airforce pilot he'd been flying in formation with two others whose wingtips had touched and crashed, leaving him the sole survivor.) She urged him to send her $NZ30 + $NZ10 p&p so that she would use her powers to choose winning lottery numbers for him, "while there's still time". Her powers had failed to tell her my brother-in-law died in 2004. --Hugh7 (talk) 07:18, 22 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

About the article, about the scam[edit]

This article is a mess, as the banner says. However, it is much less a mess than this scam engine called "Maria Duval". I have some of the mailings that the company has sent my elderly relative. Would scans of them be helpful to the article? Is it possible from a copyright perspective? At the end of a long letter meant to convince the receiver to purchase a magical ring that will bring great luck, against an urgent time limit, the final page solicits a response from recipients who decline the offer as "it would reassure me [the so-called "Maria Duval"]." The page goes on to tell the decliner that "for the sake of your money and your happiness, make an appointment with a therapist. Ask them to help you resolve this long-standing blockage you have in your relationship with money, through no fault of your own." The temerity is stunning: if you don't fall for this scam, then you need mental health care! Thank you, Wordreader (talk) 00:07, 28 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

A more appropriate portal[edit]

Since this scam marketing effort really only uses magic and psychic ability as a hook to attract would-be customers, should it really be under the "Wikiproject Paranormal Portal"? And since I've read on some sites that are more authoritative, police departments and the like, that "Maria Duval" doesn't exist, should this article really be under the "Wikiproject Biography Portal"? I would think that a consumer-type portal would be more appropriate and also one that's aimed at elder protection. Thanks, Wordreader (talk) 00:36, 28 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

A NEW SCAM?[edit]

 I RECENTLY RECEIVED IN THE U.S.MAIL,DATED "OCT.,23,2013, A MAILING FROM "HER" IN CONNECTION W/ "THE DESTINY RESEARCH CTR" SUPPOSEDLY LOCATED IN "SPARKS,NV.",INVITING ME TO BE "PART OF THE CHOSEN FEW IN THE SMALL CIRCLE OF INITIATES".FOR A SMALL 'CONTRIBUTION' OF $7.00(TO HELP DEFER COSTS OF SHIPPING & HANDLING),SHE WOULD SEND ME 1)A LIST OF THE LOST SECRET WORDS OF POWER,2)MY PERSONALIZED "STAR CHART",& 3)ACTIVATION TABLE FOR NUMBERS W/ GREAT LUCK POTENTIAL.IT ALSO CAME W/ AN ENVELOPE THAT I WAS SUPPOSE TO SEND BACK,UNOPENED ALONG W/ THE "CONFIRMATION FORM" & 'CON'TRIBUTION.OF COARSE,I OPENED IT & THE INSIDE OF THE ENVELOPE WAS MADE FROM A TYPE OF SECURITY PAPER W/ A WORD "HIDDEN" ON THE INSIDE,"ABRAXAS",WHICH,IF MEMORY SERVES ME,IS THE NAME OF A"STATE PENITENTIARY IN PENNSYLVANIA" NEAR THE "PITTSBURGH AREA".
 AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH ON THE "WEB",I DECIDED TO MAKE THIS CONTRIBUTION TO THIS ARTICLE IN HOPES THAT IT WILL KEEP SOME OUT OF HARMS WAY & HELPS TO KEEP THOSE HARD EARNED DOLLARS IN PEOPLES POCKETS!I ALSO PLAN TO REPORT IT TO"U.S.P.S.".
 I'VE KEPT THE COPY I RECEIVED IN CASE SOME ONE WOULD NEED VERIFICATION.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by ANTI-SCAMMER57 (talk • contribs) 21:34, 27 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Blacklisted Links Found on the Main Page[edit]

Cyberbot II has detected that page contains external links that have either been globally or locally blacklisted. Links tend to be blacklisted because they have a history of being spammed, or are highly innappropriate for Wikipedia. This, however, doesn't necessarily mean it's spam, or not a good link. If the link is a good link, you may wish to request whitelisting by going to the request page for whitelisting. If you feel the link being caught by the blacklist is a false positive, or no longer needed on the blacklist, you may request the regex be removed or altered at the blacklist request page. If the link is blacklisted globally and you feel the above applies you may request to whitelist it using the before mentioned request page, or request it's removal, or alteration, at the request page on meta. When requesting whitelisting, be sure to supply the link to be whitelisted and wrap the link in nowiki tags. The whitelisting process can take its time so once a request has been filled out, you may set the invisible parameter on the tag to true. Please be aware that the bot will replace removed tags, and will remove misplaced tags regularly.

Below is a list of links that were found on the main page:

  • http://www.voy.com/10337/1280.html
    Triggered by \bvoy.com\b on the local blacklist

If you would like me to provide more information on the talk page, contact User:Cyberpower678 and ask him to program me with more info.

From your friendly hard working bot.—cyberbot II NotifyOnline 18:44, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

 Resolved This issue has been resolved, and I have therefore removed the tag, if not already done. No further action is necessary.—cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 00:11, 4 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

CNN.com investigative series[edit]

On February 25, 2016, CNN.com published chapter one ("Who is behind one of the biggest scams in history?") of a five-part investigative series about Maria Duval. Apparently, they'll publish a new chapter each week. Tracescoops (talk) 18:58, 27 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Unsourced pseudonym and birth date[edit]

I checked the sources, references and external links provided, and none mentions the supposed real name or her birth date. Can someone please source it? --Odiseo79 (talk) 23:55, 18 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Scam versus BLP[edit]

There ought to be two articles, one about the person Maria Duval Gamba (according CNN) and about the scam using her name, to which she may or may not contribute to. Why did we merge two clearly different articles. Kanatonian (talk) 17:23, 31 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

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External links modified[edit]

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Article rewrite[edit]

Hello fellow Wikipedians. CNN having just published a new report on Maria Duval (the psychic, the scam), it seems to be a good opportunity to review the article, a task I will undertake over the next few days. Given the number of problems with the current articles, it's likely to be a fairly throughout rewrite. Anybody who wants to contribute is welcome, using this talk page to coordinate. As one user above points out, I'm wondering if there should not be two articles: this one as a bio, the other about the scam. Robincantin (talk) 21:44, 28 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

At this point, I think the best course of action is to write a "Maria Duval Psychic Scam" page. That won't leave much on the Maria Duval page, but that's because not much is known about her. I intend to do this over the weekend. Objections? Robincantin (talk) 23:37, 10 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Me again. I re-created the Maria Duval Scam page, completely re-written given the wealth of new information from CNN and U.S. Department of Justice. I'm now going to adjust the Maria Duval page in consequence, hoping I get all the redirects right. Please check my work. Robincantin (talk) 00:56, 15 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Robin Cantin I'm uploading video and making mention of the Balles Award winners who wrote the book on the scam. I will link to the award announcement and add the video to the Wikipedia page. I'm not married to the video being here but being BOLD I'm adding it and will not lose sleep over it's removal. But I do think that the section of the authors discussing the book is also a overview of the Duval scam and helpful. Sgerbic (talk) 18:56, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
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