Naples – No longer just the pain of mourning or the hope of contact with the afterlife, the business of popular credulity seems to have crossed a new, disturbing frontier: that of pure fear.
"If he doesn't pay five thousand euros by the 12th, they'll kill him." This chilling message raised alarm bells and prompted five people to file formal complaints with the Naples Public Prosecutor's Office, revealing an alleged scam that arose in the shadow of a self-proclaimed psychic's live social media posts.
The theater of the scam
It all begins online, in the virtual squares where the psychic hosts her live shows, promising to connect users with the souls of their deceased loved ones. A fragile, emotionally exposed audience, ready to believe in the supernatural.
But the real trap, according to the report, was sprung far from everyone's eyes, in the privacy of a WhatsApp group. There, a former moderator of the psychic allegedly spun the web, contacting some of the psychic's most loyal followers with a desperate plea for help.
The script of terror
The narrative crafted to extort money is worthy of a crime thriller. The intended victim—another live moderator, of Calabrian origins—was reportedly in mortal danger.
The story told to users was precise and horrifying: the man had incurred a €5 debt to "dangerous people," and if the sum wasn't repaid by a certain deadline (the 12th), the outcome would be murder. A race against time to save a life, leveraging the participants' sense of community and compassion.
The crystallized proof
The process, however, stalled when faced with the clarity of one of the potential victims. When asked for more details on the nature of the debt and the identity of the creditors, the applicant suddenly changed his tune. First, he attempted a clumsy backtracking, then went so far as to deny having ever made the request.
An attempt to cover up the tracks failed from the start: the conversations and threats had already been "crystallized" through screenshots, now attached to the court documents.
The investigators' hypothesis
The complaint filed in Naples now calls for full investigation into what appears not to be an isolated incident, but a well-established modus operandi. The hypothesis is that fear of death and the threat of violence are tools used cyclically to squeeze money from those already hooked by spiritual promises.
It will now be up to the judiciary to determine whether the mystical broadcasts conceal a more earthly and ruthless criminal conspiracy aimed at fraud.
Changes and revisions to this article
- Article updated on 09/12/2025 at 15:06 - Content updated
- Article updated on 09/12/2025 at 15:08 - Article revised
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Comments (1)
It's truly strange how people can fall into such traps. Fear and the desire for contact with the deceased are powerful forces, but it's sad to see them exploited for profit. I hope justice is served.