The following is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, Standard
Edition, at
http://www.rootsforum.com/newsletter/index.html#ScamArtist
This is a free newsletter and you can sign up at
http://www.rootsforum.com/mailman/listinfo/newsletter-standard_rootsforum
com
I continue to get email from list members about GenSeeker and thought this
might be worthy of passing along.
Robin, List Administrator
- Were You Victimized by This Genealogy Scam Artist?
I have written a number of times about GenSeekers. This site is owned and
operated by Mr. Elias Abodeely of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Mr. Abodeely is a
21-year-old who has operated a number of Web sites, using various business
names, including
genealogydevelopments.com,
familydiscovery.com,
genealogyfinders.net,
genlocator.com,
genseeker.com,
genseekers.com,
genealogy-express.com, and probably many others. Most of these are Web sites
that remain online for a few weeks while the owner collects money from
would-be customers. The sites then get shut down as the complaints mount,
but new ones appear with similar wording.
Elias Abodeely has advertised his Web sites with thousands of spam e-mails.
These messages claim to offer access to millions of online genealogy records
for about $60.00 a year. (The price varies a bit from one ad to another.)
Once signed up for this "service," the hapless victim is given access to a
few pages of menus that point to other Web sites, all of which are free of
charge for everyone. The links on Abodeely's sites point to
FamilySearch.org
RootsWeb, and lots of other sites that you can access right now at no
charge.
Your sixty dollars buys access to a list of links, nothing else. And those
links are not nearly as complete as those on Cyndi's List, a free site.
Elias Abodeely has accepted credit cards and checks by various means. For a
while, he used a PayPal account. However, clicking on the link in an old
spam mail from GenSeekers now displays a PayPal page that says, "This
recipient is currently unable to receive money." PayPal apparently shut down
that account.
In the spam mail ads, GenSeekers and the other names being used all offer a
five-day, money-back guarantee. GenSeekers' online check acceptance form at
https://fs6.formsite.com/genseekers/form093061282/secure_index.html says,
The 5 Day Trial is 100 % Free for the First 5 Days Cancel Before End of
Trial and Nothing will ever be billed." (That is an exact quote with the
original grammar errors left intact.) A customer service e-mail address to
be used for cancellations is supplied when you subscribe. However, e-mails
sent to that address bounce back as "addressee unknown" Or "mailbox
full."
Once charged, there is no method for the victim to cancel or obtain a refund
To read my past articles about this scam, look at:
http://www.rootsforum
com/archives/news0310.htm,
http://www.rootsforum.com/archives/news0320.htm,
http://www.rootsforum.com/archives/news0237.htm and at
http://www.rootsforum
com/archives/news0129.htm.
The Better Business Bureau's report is particularly strong. The BBB is
usually rather conservative in its reports, but this time says, "It has come
to the bureau's attention that consumers are unable to unsubscribe through
web site and email correspondences are not returned by company. Credit card
users who have been unable to obtain a refund from the company may wish to
contact their credit card company."
You can find many more references on Google. You can also find quite a few
messages about this on the Discussion Board for this newsletter.
When I started writing this article, the Web page at
http://www.GenSeekers
com was in operation. However, before I finished the article a few days
later, that Web page seemed to have disappeared. An attempt to go to that
page now generates the common error message, "The page you are looking for
is currently unavailable." In the meantime, you can see Google's cached copy
Copies of other now-defunct Web sites operated by Elias Abodeely are also
available at:
http://www.archive.org.
Some months ago, the spam mail messages listed a telephone number, but later
e-mail ads do not. That number was disconnected and later re-assigned to
someone else (who reportedly is really angry at all the phone calls they
have received from unhappy people looking for
GenSeekers.com!).
When looking at the domain registrations for Abodeely's Web sites, I found
several addresses and telephone numbers used. The registration for
FamilyDiscovery.com lists a Technical Contact of Elias Abodeely at 9843
Cambridge Drive, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404 and a different telephone number. I
called the number but was connected to an answering machine that gave no
clue as to the current owner's name.
I searched several online telephone directories for a current address and
telephone number. Most of the searches came up empty, except for AnyWho at
http://www.anywho.com. That online service does show a listing for a Mr.
Elias A Abodeely at still a different address in Cedar Rapids and with a
different phone number. There is no way to tell if this is the same person
or not. A search on
USSearch.com turned up references to two men of the same
name in Cedar Rapids. One is listed as being 92 years old, obviously not the
same person.
By the way, you can see a five-year-old partially obscured picture of then
16-year-old Elias Abodeely. Look at the Cedar Rapids GazetteOnline at:
http://www.gazetteonline.com/special/neighbor/mmhp/mmhpp003.htm.
Have you been a victim of one of these scams? You may be able to get your
money back. Even better, you may be able to help stop this operation now
before others become victims.
If you have been victimized by GenSeekers or any of the other names being
used in this operation, please do several things:
If you paid by credit card, contact your credit card company now! Your
credit card is insured against online fraud. The phone number to call
probably is on the back of the credit card. Ask for a refund. Credit card
companies are very experienced at these scams and are quick to refund a
victim's money if they receive such a request promptly. The credit card
companies then go after the business owners for reimbursement. (Sadly, many
people paid by checks, at the suggestion of Mr. Abodeely's various spam
mails. Personal checks should never be used for online purchases as they do
not have fraud protection. Credit cards are fully insured against online
fraud, but personal checks carry no protection at all. If you paid by credit
card, you can get your money back! If you paid by check or money order, you
probably are out of luck.)
File a complaint with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the
National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). You can easily do this at
http://www1.ifccfbi.gov.
File a consumer complaint form with the Federal Trade Commission. Selling on
the Internet constitutes interstate commerce, so the FTC has jurisdiction.
You can do this easily at
https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$
startup?Z_SUBMIT_FLAG=Y.
Download and fill out an Iowa Attorney General Consumer Complaint Form. You
can obtain this form at
http://www.state.ia.us/government/ag/forminfo.htm.
You can also send e-mail complaints to consumer(a)ag.state.ia.us. However, I
suspect that a written complaint form sent via regular mail will be more
effective.
Contact the Cedar Rapids Police Department. The department's Web page at
http://www.cedar-rapids.org/police/ and the department's Financial Crimes division
page at
http://www.cedar-rapids.org/police/financial_crimes.asp lists Lieutenant Ken
Washburn as the contact person for any financial crimes. You can reach him at (319)
286-5413 or at k.washburn(a)cedar-rapids.org.