Dear List, I just thought I would repost this here for any of you unknowning researchers that may get sucked into a similar situation. Ellen- Waukesha County Gen Web Coordinator 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. - An Old Genealogy Scam Reappears There is a Web site that sends out unsolicited e-mails offering to give you access to the world's largest genealogy database for only $44.95. At first, that might sound like a good deal. However, the e-mails don't mention the source of this "world's largest" genealogy database. It is the Internet and is free to everyone -- except for the gullible folks who fall for these e-mails. What the e-mails do not tell you is that your money only buys you access to a list of links. These links on the Web site present the other sites inside HTML frames, making it look like the other sites are a part of original site's "service." They do this without telling you that the contents are not created by them, but actually are the intellectual property of the originators. FamilyDiscovery.com was one source of these misleading e-mails. The site was in business for a year or so and gained notoriety within the genealogy community. Their Web site disappeared recently, apparently being shut down by the Internet service provider that hosted the online "service" after complaints by many users. However, a new Web site has recently appeared, operating a site that looks like FamilyDiscovery.com but under a different name. It appears that the owner of the new Web site is the same person who owned the earlier one. The new Web site is Genealogy- Developments.com. The new Web site proclaims that you can "Search Over 23 Billion Genealogy Records Right From This Website." That claim is absolutely correct. Of course, you can search the same 23 billion records without going to that Web site and without paying $44.95. If you read the fine print at http://www.genealogy- developments.com/faqs.html, you will note that it says, "We do not offer access to a database of records but we do offer the ability to search billions of online records spanned across the Internet." The reality is that you can find all those links, and more, elsewhere on the Web. I suspect that most of them are available on Cyndi's List at http://www.cyndislist.com. Of course, Cyndi's List is free of charge. There are a couple of "watchdog sites" that watch for Web sites like FamilyDiscovery.com and Genealogy-Developments.com. The International Blacksheep Society of Genealogists maintains a "Genealogy Hall of Shame" at: http://blacksheep.rootsweb.com/familydiscovery.htm. The Watchdog Committee maintains the "Genealogical Web Site Watchdog" at: http://www.ancestordetective.com/watchdog.htm. You might also want to check Cyndi's List at: http://www.cyndislist.com/myths.htm#Consumer. If you ever have a question about an online genealogy "service," I'd suggest that you check these sites before spending any money. You can also check some of my past articles about genealogy scams, both online and off, at: http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/eastman/3538.asp and at http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/eastman/4251.asp.