A WOMAN IN COLOMBIA SOLD GOSSIP AND BOUGHT 2 HOUSES WITH THE MONEY

 A 67-year-old Colombian woman named Myriam (or Miryam) from Armenia in the Quindío region went viral for allegedly buying two houses by turning neighborhood gossip (chisme) and silence into a business.

She sits outside her home with a dedicated notebook, tracking local events, schedules, interactions, and family drama. She charges neighbors 5,000 to 10,000 Colombian pesos ($1.20–$2.40 USD) for minor local updates (chisme flojo).

Her most lucrative tier involves charging up to 700,000 pesos ($165 USD) to keep sensitive matters—such as infidelities—hidden from the rest of the street (chisme gordo). 

The story sparked wide online debate, with some praising it as a clever entrepreneurial hustle and others criticizing it as an invasion of privacy or a form of extortion.