For your information.
Tim Singleton, tsingleton(a)iclub.org
Volunteer INGenWeb Coodinator
Adams Co., IN -
http://www.rootsweb.com/~inadams/
Randolph Co., IN -
http://www.rootsweb.com/~inrandol/
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The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy
Newsletter and is copyright 2002 by Richard W. Eastman. It is
re-published here with the permission of the author.
- Genealogy Scams Online
The following is an extract from an e-mail that I received
recently:
I received the below e-mail, and several other subsequent ones
from the outfit indicated. I mailed them a check in the
amount of $49.99 per their request and have not heard a word
from them since despite several attempts on my part to get in
touch with them. E-mail to them bounces as fast as I can send
it. I wonder if you would be interested in warning others who
might be tempted to join this online library of genealogical
information?
The message that was attached is a typical "spam mail" that glowingly
describes a Web site. It says, in part:
We need to announce this is the final offer we have available
to receive the extended referral offer to you for a Free 5 Day
Trial to our online genealogy research library located at:
http://www.genseekers.com. We also have an extra 25% off for
genealogists joining through Mail Order or Online Check
located at:
http://www.genseekers.com/specialoffer.htm
Sadly, I receive many such messages about so-called genealogy "services"
that take your money and then either disappear or else seem to deliver
goods that are much less than the mental image painted by the
advertisements.
What these ads don't tell you is that the "online research library"
being offered is, in fact, the World Wide Web! Each such "service"
provides a simple gateway that leads you to publicly available Web
pages, the same Web pages that you can read right now for free. You pay
$30 or $50 or more to access a set of menus that, in turn, point you to
free Web pages. You can obtain the same information from most any free
search engine or from Cyndi's List, also free of charge.
GenSeekers is but one of a number of similar Web sites that have
appeared recently. I don't know if all these Web sites are owned by the
same person or not, but they all share the same modus operandi. They
send tens of thousands of e-mail messages to genealogists, claiming to
offer access to an "online research library [that] can save you time and
money by featuring a simple point and click interface allowing you to
easily find the genealogical data you are looking for in seconds."
GenSeekers.com is the latest name used. In times past, I have written
about other similar Web sites, including
FamilyDiscovery.com,
Genealogy-Developments.com,
GenLocator.com and
Genealogy-Express.com. I
am sure there are others, and I'm also sure we will see even more such
sites in the future.
I am no lawyer, but I suspect that charging money for a site that gives
pointers to free sites is completely legal. Those with more legal
training than I have are welcome to discuss the finer points of law,
however. I suspect this "service" is no different from paying for a book
or magazine that contains lists of Web pages. While the "service" may be
legal, I will let you decide if such a list is worth $30.00 or more.
Many of the sites mentioned have disappeared after the word got out.
Complaints often get fed to the companies that host the Web pages. A
hosting service typically will shut down the Web pages after receiving
numerous complaints; however, within a few days, a new "business" with a
slightly different name appears at a new address, hosted by a different
Web hosting service. The "services" provided by the new Web site are
always similar to those of the now-defunct Web site.
Luckily, it is easy to find the Web sites with poor reputations. If you
receive a suspicious-sounding offer, my first suggestion is to go to the
home page for these newsletters on
Ancestry.com at
http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/eastman/eastman.asp.
Enter the word "scam" (without the quote marks) into the box labeled
"Search The Library." This will find all the articles that I have
written that contain this word, along with more articles by other
authors.
Next, go to any of the better search engines and search for the name of
the company or Web site in question. You will find many references to
that company and usually can find comments about good and bad
experiences alike. Bad experiences are usually prominent in the search
engine listings. For instance, here are some Google links that search
for information about some of the companies already mentioned:
GenSeekers.com:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=GenSee...
FamilyDiscovery.com:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&a...
overy.com&btnG=Google+Search
Genealogy-Developments.com:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&a...
Developments.com&btnG=Google+Search
GenLocator.com:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&...
Also look at the "Genealogy Hall of Shame" at
http://blacksheep.rootsweb.com/shame/genlocator.htm. Finally, you might
check Cyndi Howell's list of Myths, Hoaxes & Scams at:
http://www.cyndislist.com/myths.htm
Caveat emptor! (Let the buyer beware!)