A Florida woman is suing her neighborhood spy shop, alleging the business took advantage of her diet-drug induced paranoia to sell her items at exorbitant costs, Miami New Times reported Friday.
The shop allegedly sold her items like a $214,000 house scanner to detect hidden electronic bugs and a $1,200 pair of magnetic tweezers, the outlet noted. In the woman’s complaint, she reportedly said the paranoia was an unusual side-effect of taking a diet-pill she has since discontinued taking. (RELATED: ‘Paranoia’: Public Safety Officials Believe Mental Health Issues Plagued Maine Mass Shooter)
Woman Claims Spy Shop Made Fortune by Milking Her Paranoid Delusions https://t.co/CnykRTaN2A
— Miami New Times (@miaminewtimes) November 10, 2023
The shop, she claimed, played into her paranoia by conducting body scans of her and suggesting more expensive scans to discover whether an electronic bug had been placed in her ear, the outlet reported.
“Even after conducting multiple ‘scans’ of the plaintiff’s body, which did not result in locating any devices, the defendants … continued to instill fear into the plaintiff and to misrepresent the possibility of devices at the plaintiff’s person, vehicle, and home,” the lawsuit claimed, according to Miami New Times.
The lawsuit also claimed similar items sold to her could be obtained for a fraction of the price elsewhere, indicating alleged unjust enrichment, Miami New Times reported.
She further claimed her stay at a mental health facility was known to at least one of the spy shop managers, the outlet noted.
One academic study of the diet drug the Florida woman took, phentermine, noted it was “one of the most often prescribed drugs for weight loss.” The study further noted “numerous reports already showed that phentermine can induce psychosis” but such condition generally subsides once the medication is discontinued.