She dressed up like a psychic and told them what they wanted to hear. Guess what they believed?
Don't even be tempted to rely on psychics or palmist or tarot card readers or any other charlatans.
Remember Miss Cleo?
She was a scam artist. Before she became Miss Cleo, she was Youree Harris. Youree Harris was not Jamaican, but she played one on stage whose name just so happened to be Cleo. Using the name Miss Cleo, she was the spokeswoman for a pay-per-call service called Psychic Readers Network that would — you guessed it — provide psychic readings.
But "Miss Cleo" didn't have psychic powers. She was just good at teasing out enough about people to make plausible assumptions about them.
She was just doing what this lady is doing.
Now watch this delicious throwback of Miss Cleo on "The Jenny Jones Show" and see if you can spot it.
They ask her a question and give their birthdate. She does some quick mental math to figure out how old they are. Then she jumps to some conclusions that are plausible given the information she has about them.
Surprise! Her company was sued by the Federal Trade Commission for fraudulent claims and misleading business practices.
Don't wait for the FTC to save you.