This one has 'got' me.

[Fartooold]

Just had a reading, arranged by a friend for the 1st time in 30 years!
Most of what was said was generic, and things I would naturally claim ( caring for others so much etc).
But.
Within 30 seconds of the reading starting, she asked who 'Ginny' was. When I looked puzzled, she said ' listen, it sounded like Winnie, but I haven't heard that name in ages, so Im going for Ginny, or maybe Jenny'?
My mum's became was Winifred, but everyone called her Winnie. She then asked who John, known as Jack was. He is my stepfather, he and my mum were inseperable.

There were other bits that were accurate, but my mums name...... how???

[FictionalCharacter]

It's the generic guesswork they do. She said Ginny then started casting around for alternatives. Could have been Jenny, Gilly, Minnie, Julie, she could try all sorts of really common names until you looked like she was on to something.

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

Maybe she managed to wangle info out of your friend.

[MayBeeJuneSoon]

Guesswork! But she fooled you fairly easily

[squidgybits]

Don't listen to them OP, it's validation
I hope it brought you some comfort

[Fartooold]

Honestly folks, I'm not taking the whole thing that seriously, I really wasnt easily fooled or comforted by anything said, I was simply in awe of how she came up with the names, and it did give me pause 🙄

@FictionalCharacter is probably the closest to being right, but it was very impressive to get Winnie in a second attempt🤣

Friend never knew names, not that close a friend, Clairvoyant did not have surnames or addresses etc., so couldn't research.

Very clever 😊

[Jifmicroliquid]

Derren Brown did an interesting documentary quite a few years ago about this. At the start of the program I was amazed by these psychics apparent abilities and was curious how he was going to prove them to be fake. By the end, Derren Brown could cold read somebody simply from watching the techniques and it became obvious it was all just manipulation.

[GoodChat]

They probably Facebook stalked you beforehand.

[Ollifer]

After my parents died I went to one of these people, I was only 21 and sick with grief and desperate for any contact with them. As I sat there and listened I felt sick as i knew then it was all a farce. Most of it was pretty generic, she came up with some months that were apparently significant? Well if you think about it every month has some kind of memory/birthday/anniversary doesn't it???? She came up with some vague names again I didn't recognise but with going through other names in the family they would obviously sound similar enough to think oh she must mean that person!

It's all a complete scam. Sometimes they hit the jackpot and get information accurate first time but it's still not real.

[DrDavidStarKey]

My brother (born 1943) grew up not knowing his father or his father's name. He saw a psychic as a laugh and was told that 'James' was always with him (not the actual name). As we have no-one in the family called James, he brushed it off but...in 2016 when I was bedbound and bored, I did some research on a subject and as a side issue, from it, it became apparent who my brothers father was. I contacted his birth family and they all knew their family member had fathered a child etc. Further research has proven the bio link and this man's name was James.

[TwoFluffyDogsOnMyBed]

Winnie isn’t a common name …although neither is Ginnie!

my Grandma and Grandad were called Winnie and Jack (John)🙂

[GonnaGetGoingReturns]

I visited a spiritualist church a few times. The two bits of information one made no sense at all but the other was apparently from my grandad (dad’s dad) who I never knew apart from as a young child and I didn’t know much about him either. He gave me a message to give to my DM about her family home and a fence leading to a churchyard and the playgroup said it should be mended as it could attract thieves. DM got this mended and grandad was practical.

The other spiritualists made really silly claims, something about dancing to do with my friend who was with us which she could’ve guessed. And they disappeared quickly with no chance to ask questions afterwards. It was very sad as one older woman came every week, head in hands and desperate to get some message which never came through.