BBC News Online: World: Americas

Argentina's website of deceit

For a fee of $120, subscribers to Amorios.com get a tailor-made service designed to help them maintain the utmost discretion and save the feelings of their better halves.

The brainchild of web designer Raul Tello, the site offers invitations to bogus conferences, airline tickets, and certificates of attendance.

Amorios says its custom-made lies are even convincing enough to dupe the errant party's boss into believing they are away on business.

False numbers

The company provides its clients with a list of false numbers which can be given as contact numbers to spouses.

Should a suspicious husband or wife smell a rat and phone the 'conference', someone impersonating a secretary in the Amorios offices will answer and inform the caller their wife or husband "just stepped out".

However, operating from a small office, with many scripts, many lies to remember and phones lying scattered all over a desk, Amorios staff seem doomed to slip-up at least once.

Despite this, Mr Tello is confident that his remains the only site for the discerning cheat.

'No failures'

"With Amorios, there will be no failures, we study every case thoroughly," Mr Tello explained.

The site even claims it can cover-up the tell-tale signs of strange entries on credit card receipts and bills

The site has proved so popular during its first two months' operation that Mr Tello has had to limit its services to 1,000 members, who are apparently equally divided between men and women.

The roaring success of the site has led Mr Tello to launch ambitious plans to develop similar services in neighbouring countries such as Peru and Uruguay.