Hi all, I received this from the list coordinator of the Adams County, IN rootsweb group. Thought y'all should know about it since I have been innundated by ads from this "company" and I suspect that you have as well. Norman ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tim Singleton" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, September 15, 2002 8:53 PM Subject: [INADAMS] More on Genealogy Scams > For your information. > > Tim Singleton, [email protected] > Volunteer INGenWeb Coodinator > Adams Co., IN - http://www.rootsweb.com/~inadams/ > Randolph Co., IN - http://www.rootsweb.com/~inrandol/ > > =========================================================== > > 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=GenSeekers > > FamilyDiscovery.com: > > http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=FamilyDisc > overy.com&btnG=Google+Search > > > Genealogy-Developments.com: > > http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Genealogy- > Developments.com&btnG=Google+Search > > > GenLocator.com: > > http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=GenLocator > > 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!) > > > > ==== INADAMS Mailing List ==== > > > >