I have recently been solicited by "Gencircles" to submit my GEDCOM. Don't know if they are legit or not. They state they are free, but I see not signs that that they have a method of financial support. Bruce Bowers bowers6254@telocity.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Colleen Pustola <ladyaudris@earthlink.net> To: <BOWER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2001 7:20 AM Subject: [BOWER] CHAT: EVERYONE PLEASE READ > Hi everyone, > > In the span of just one month, I find myself having to put the word out > again. I'm sorry, but again this is a mass mailing to all my lists. > Too many newbies have joined us and I have an update from my message of > January 19th. > > THE UPDATE FIRST > > I'll begin here so those of you who already know about Family Discovery > (and their sister site, GenSeekers) can be on your merry way .... > > A new letter from them is circulating now... one that promotes a service > that sounds like something that as a genealogist, you're really afraid > to pass up (those records... all those records!). The newest message > will probably have a subject line of "Thanks for your help > Genealogist..." > > Are you concerned that you'll be missing out by not signing up with > Family Discovery? Would you like to know what you're missing if you > don't get in on the "special offer"? Click on this link > <http://www.familydiscovery.com/members/>. It will take you directly > inside their site where you can walk around and have a really good > look. > > Once done, please spread the word. Don't let other cousins, friends and > newbies get suckered by these scam artists. > > I also want to let you know that Gene Olson has done some research and > found the following current list of sites related to Family Discovery in > one way or another: > > genealogyfinders.com > genealogyfinders.net > aboent.com > familydiscovery.com > genseeker.com > genealogy-express.com > > If these sites are anything like Family Discovery, hide your wallet, > checkbook, credit card, and run! :) > > He has now set up a message board on his site for discussion of Family > Discovery and her sister sites. Want to find out more or comment about > the subject?... head for Gene's Anti Family Discovery site at > <http://www.compuright.net/familydiscovery/>. > > > FOR THE NEWEST COUSINS > > Okay, so I did this backwards, the newest news first. However, please > know that the subject of Family Discovery is NOT new. To save time, > this is a copy and paste from the main portion of my message to everyone > on January 19th. It lays out the whole story. I post it here again just > for you newest cousins... > > Family Discovery is just what I said in the last sentence... rip-offs. > This is becoming an old subject among those of us who have been doing > online genealogy for a while, but you need to be made aware... > > Family Discovery links their pages to Rootsweb sites and archive pages, > GenWeb sites, and privately owned sites ... sites on which all the > information is already FREE! They are doing this without permission and > are currently under investigation. > > Please, heed the warning. A new ad from them is going around telling > you that if you'll join by Friday, 2 Feb, you'll pay "a one time access > fee of ONLY $49.00 with absolutely nothing to pay EVER again..." > > While I'm at it, I'd better warn you of their newest, sister site... > GenSeeker, in case another message is floating around that I'm not aware > of yet. Though I haven't heard any more about it from anyone (yet), > it's still a site owned by the same person(s) and building itself under > the same premise as Family Discovery. I've been to their newest site > and seen what they're up to. Instead of the "special rate" you're > charged $20 more. However, when clicking on their "freesearch link," > the unwary customer is taken to the familydiscovery.com site. > > GenSeeker describes itself as "the most comprehensive easy to use > collection of online records ever compiled." Of course it is, if they > link to every free website they can find! Save your money and do the > search yourself! You DO NOT need to pay for a service that is already > free if you know where to look. If you need assistance, send a message > to the list and state in the top line of your message that you're a > newbie needing help; you'll probably get more than you can handle! :) > > Gene Olson has an Anti-FamilyDiscovery.com update list from his > website. He has been working to close down both sites and is still on > their trail. You newbies to online genealogy would be wise to go to his > site and read up on this company so you won't be ripped off. Click on > the following link and you'll be taken directly to his site: > <http://www.compuright.net/familydiscovery>. Gene's new email address > is <gene_olson@bigfoot.com>. His toll-free number is 1-877-319-9699. > > I tried to access familydiscovery.com just a moment ago. It seems the > entire site is now password protected. Hmmm... I wonder why... > > I hope this finds you all having a TERRIFIC Tuesday! :) > > Colleen > > > ==== BOWER Mailing List ==== > Please do not send messages with attachments, HTML, MIME, or any other > enhanced text to the list. RootsWeb does not allow messages with those > settings through their servers and will only return them to you. > >

Bruce, I rec'd a solicitation from Gencircles too and was concerned. I remember Family Treemaker soliciting me several years back and now they sell everyone's GEDCOM, which of course we knew they planned to do anyway. I can't imagine Gencircles staying free unless they plan to have advertising on their webpages. bbowers wrote: > I have recently been solicited by "Gencircles" to submit my GEDCOM. Don't > know if they are legit or not. They state they are free, but I see not > signs that that they have a method of financial support. > > Bruce Bowers > bowers6254@telocity.com