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Archiver > APG > 2005-05 > 1115160094


From: Ray Beere Johnson II <>
Subject: Is This A Scam Targeted At Professional Genealogists?
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 15:41:34 -0700 (PDT)


I received the following message today, and,
although on the surface it seemed okay, something
seemed just a bit "off" about it. Perhaps if I
had time I could pinpoint what bothers me about
it, but I do know my "sixth sense" started
jangling. Also, Yahoo put the message in my Bulk
Mail folder, which suggests they have the domain
tagged as a source of spam. So I decided to check
out the web site www.mandingavision.com - it
exists, but provides little information, and that
is really just hype. So I went to
http://whois.godaddy.com and checked on who had
registered this domain. It is in the name of John
Petty, address Sandy, Utah. Now, with that
address, my sixth sense is really jangling. I
find it hard to believe that anyone living in
Utah, with a company as slick as MandingaVision
is attempting to appear to be, could be quite as
ignorant of genealogy as implied in this message.
Is this an attempt to gather information, for
some reason, on professional genealogists without
letting them know whatever is really going on?
Has anyone else gotten such a message? Does
anyone know what this is about? With all the
spammers, phishing scams, etc. out there, I
really hesitate to reply to this one until I know
more about who and what is behind it. Besides,
how am I supposed to estimate how long the
project will take to complete when the message
gives me no idea what is involved? And Ben
Jackson is supposed to be from "Customer Care",
yet on MandingaVision's web site, I found no
indication they actually HAD any customers...
Ray

--- Ben Jackson <> wrote:
> From: "Ben Jackson" <>
> Subject: Questions about your services
> Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 11:33:42 -0600
>

---------------------------------
Hello,

My name is Ben Jackson with MandingaVision.com. I
have been asked to
contact you on behalf of my employer to discuss
the possibility of you
researching his family genealogy.

After extensive research I have narrowed it down
to a select few that we are
interested in and you ranked near the top of the
list. I also researched what we
should expect when hiring a professional
genealogist and found an article by a
Sue P. Morgan entitled What You Should Know
Before Hiring a Professional
Genealogist.

After researching all that I can and seeing that
you were one of the best, I
thought that I would drop you an email asking you
some questions that would
really help me in deciding whether or not to go
with you.

Any and all info you can provide on the following
list will really help:

1) What will I get? Such as the report,
research calendar, copies of research,
family group sheets, consultation,
analysis of records, biographies,
photos, etc.
2) What will you be doing? Such as what is
your process and what is it that
you do? (I am new to professional
genealogy and need a brief description
of what it is that you do)
3) How do you bill us? What I mean is what
the break down is of the cost of
your services by area. (i.e. report,
researching)
4) Cost per hour/cost per block of
time/price of project? Do you charge by the
hour, the job or a block of time?
5) Sizes of your packages? By
hour/length/time
6) What do I need to provide you with in
order to begin?
7) Length of time to finish the research?
8) Your credentials and/or experience?


Thanks so much for taking the time to help us
decide, I hope to hear back from
you soon.

Ben Jackson
Customer Care
Mandinga Vision
www.MandingaVision.com


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