Here is additional information fron Dick Eastman's Online Newsletter. Yopu are free to forward these articles on non-commercial lists, but please include the ollowing disclaimer: The following article is from Eastmans Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 2003 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com. I highly recommend subscribing o this newsletter. -Isaiah Isaiah Harrison National Coordinator The USGenWeb Project An Unincorporated Non-Profit Association - Genealogy Scam Operator Arrested! Life just got more interesting for genealogy scam operator Elias Abodeely. Four weeks ago I wrote a lengthy article about the scam best known as GenSeekers.com and identified the owner as Elias Abodeely of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. You can read that article at http://www.eogn.com/archives/news0327.htm. This week the Cedar Rapids police department arrested Abodeely and charged him with a variety of crimes, including three felonies. If convicted, Elias Abodeely could serve up to 47 years in prison for bilking genealogists. Using the name GenSeekers.com as well as number of other Web site names, Abodeely would send out thousands of "spam mail" messages claiming to have access to millions of genealogy records. The hapless victim would pay about $60 for this "service" and then be given access to a password-protected Web site that simply listed links pointing to free genealogy Web sites. GenSeekers.com and its other Web sites had no records of their own. Even more upsetting, subscribers who tried to cancel and receive a refund found that their e-mails bounced back as undeliverable. According to police reports, Elias Abodeely II, age 22, of 340 Owen St. NW, Cedar Rapids, was arrested on August 1 on suspicion of identity theft and three felonies: first-degree theft, money laundering, and ongoing criminal conduct. Police investigators claim Abodeely masterminded a 3-year genealogy scam that netted at least $14,000 and between 220 and 260 victims -- a handful of them from overseas. The total could be higher, but investigators haven't added up everything yet, according to Cedar Rapids Police Investigator Greg Koenighain. Abodeely was booked and released from the Linn County Jail. Abodeely's operation originally collected money via a PayPal account, but PayPal soon shut him out after they received complaints. Abodeely then used a variety of other methods of collecting payments by credit cards. When the credit card companies shut him down, Abodeely switched to payment by electronic checks. That worked well for the young swindler, as checks do not enjoy the same protection as credit cards. Victims who paid by credit card could obtain refunds from the credit card companies, if they asked. However, those who paid by check had no recourse. Abodeely and associates then reportedly conducted other crimes. The same electronic checks were cashed time and again, with each new occurrence using a new check number. The identity theft charge stems from an accusation that Abodeely stole four women's Social Security numbers and then used the numbers to establish new merchant accounts to process credit card payments. Elias Abodeely has been involved in other online scams, not involving genealogy. He has promoted "get rich quick" business opportunities promoting porno sites. Click here to see examples. At least one of Abodeely's Web sites -- Genseekers.com -- is still operating as these words are written, but officials expect to shut it down soon. In addition, the investigation is not yet complete. This week's arrest and arraignment was by the local police department. The federal government also has an interest in this case for possible income tax evasion, violation of interstate commerce laws and more. Mr. Abodeely's legal problems are only beginning. In addition, two of his accomplices are also facing possible arrest, according to Investigator Koenighain. You can read a bit more about this story at KWWL Television's news site at http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=1386145 as well as at the Des Moines Register's news site at: http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4788998/21905604.html. The Cedar Rapids Gazette has a longer story written by Public Safety Reporter Christoph Trappe. However, you have to purchase a subscription before you can read that article at: http://www.gazetteonline.com What Do You Think? Comments and discussion are available on this newsletter's Discussion Boards. - Comment about Genealogy Scams For reasons that are not clear to me, genealogy seems to attract more than its fair share of fast buck artists. The article about GenSeekers is probably the most flagrant example I have heard of, complete with identity theft and money laundering. However, we all have seen plenty of other charlatans who peddle goods and services of questionable value. The late and unlamented Halberts of Bath, Ohio, quickly pops to mind. They folded up a few years ago, hounded by court actions and competition from the Internet. However, Halberts' imitators are still in business in Colorado, Ontario, and elsewhere. In many shopping malls you can also find pushcart "businesses" claiming to sell "authentic" family coats of arms and other such schlock on paper, t-shirts, coffee cups and key chains. Most of their materials are bogus, not worth the paper (or key chain) that they are printed on. Then there is the Internet. Did you ever stop to think that there are similarities between the World Wide Web and the Wild, Wild West? Not only do the two phrases sound a lot alike, but they both are also full of fake medicine men, snake oil salesmen, and other fast-buck characters of disrepute. Simply look at the spam mail that you receive, claiming to sell "medical cures and solutions" to make various parts of your body bigger or smaller or to make you wealthy by using your computer to make money while you sleep. Their ads seem to have been written by ex-carnival barkers. I have a mental image of these people selling their products from the back end of a horse-drawn wagon. How do you protect yourself from these scam artists? The best advice hasn't changed in centuries: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! Be suspicious. Luckily, today's World Wide Web gives you more power than you ever had before. If a company's claims are questionable, do a search on the Web to see what the company's customers have said about it. If it is a genealogy-related product or service, go to this newsletter's Web site at http://www.eogn.com and search past newsletters. You can quickly find any articles I have ever written about the company. Next, post a message on the newsletter's Discussion Board at the same Web site and ask about the company there. Chances are that someone knows about the company and will respond to your query. Finally, pay only by credit card. Never purchase by check, money order, or cash. Credit cards are fully insured against fraud by the credit card companies themselves. If you are scammed, the credit card companies will issue a refund to you; then they will pursue the offending company for reimbursement. Sadly, payments by check, money order, or cash have no guarantees at all, as those who paid money to GenSeekers.com found out. Last year at this time, I wrote similar words about a genealogy conference in Dearborn, Michigan, that folded and disappeared just a few weeks before the scheduled start of the conference. The organizers simply took the money and closed their offices. Here again, those who had used credit cards to pre-register quickly received 100% refunds from VISA, MasterCard, and American Express. Those who paid by check, money order, or cash still have not received a dime. In short, verify the company's products or services before you spend money. When you do decide to purchase, make sure that you use a payment method that has fraud guarantees: use a credit card not a check, money order, or cash. This is a rule of thumb to follow in genealogy and everywhere else that I can think of. What Do You Think? Comments and discussion are available on this newsletter's Discussion Boards.