MONEWTON-L Archives

From: Juanetta Powers <>
Subject: [MONEWTON-L] Rip-offs of the genealogy community
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 08:00:38 -0600

I received is from another list. My Aunt bought a book similar to this i
the late 1970's and saidit was a Rip-Off even then. Juanetta
Subject: Rip-offs of the genealogy community continues
>
> Good Morning, friends and cousins in the genealogy community!
>
> The response to the identification of the genealogy rip-off operation
> in Denver last week has been tremendous with a steady stream of requests
> for add'l info.
>
> The operation in Denver with a newly discovered "branch" in Utah is an
> incarnation of the identical scheme that Halbert's used. The same form
> letters, books and newsletters are being sold, and the same fake
> "Crests" and other products are being created "to exacting standards".
>
> The new incarnation has not yet been linked financially to Halbert´s or
> NUMA (Halbert parent), but the resemblance is so close, they could be
> joined at the hip, operating under dba's Mountain West News Service,
> Mountain Pacific News Service, and MORPHCORP. The Better Business Bureau
> reports that the company has joined the BBB in January 2000, opened in
> 1985, and is rated as satisfactory. A complete history of Halbert's,
> courtesy of Jeff Scism (despite our surname homonyms, we ain't kin ---
> he hopes!) is available at
> http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~blksheep/shame/halberts.htm
>
> Volunteers interested in assisting in informing the genealogy community
> of this scam have come out of the woodwork. We would ask the recipients
> of this email the following:
> 1) A sample of the Colorado flyer is at
> http://www.dfc.cc/CyberCousins/genfraud.jpg
> Print it and post in the genealogy section at your library with
> appropriate message and make announcements at your gensoc.
>
> 2) After you have read it, as a researcher you realize the fraud that it
> is. Go to the Federal Trade Commissions website at
> https://www.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.htm and file a complaint ONLINE. For
> a sample complaint and further detailed information to use, please go to
> http://www.dfc.cc/CyberCousins/complaint.txt
>
> 3) Forward this to every list you are on.
>
> 4) If you are a member of NGS () or FGS
> (), contact those organizations and ask that they get
> members motivated. Gentech, Inc. () has a director and
> a well-known regular conference speaker in the Denver metro. I asked
> them to do some local research. No response to date.
>
> 5) Contact every genealogy columnist whose work you read, both local and
> online such as Myra Gormley (} or Dick Eastman
> () who was stalwart in early work on Halbert's, both
> of whom, as well as others, are on this list. No response to date.
>
> 6} If you have rec'd a flyer yourself, please report the names and
> addresses to me. We need to know all the DBAs they are using. Then
> take it to the local post office and file a complaint.
>
> 7) If you are in the Denver area, we need search of the court house
> records to determine any corporate connections. If we can make a
> corporate connection, I am fairly sure the restraints placed on
> Halbert's can be extended by the proper authorities.
>
> 8) If you are a supplier (software, services, researcher) to the
> genealogy community, this type of scam effects you even more.
> Contribute to the effort.
>
> 9)This is no small time scam. Halbert's is owned by a company named
> NUMA whih in turn is owned by CENDANT. Go to
> http://itjobs.cendant.com/cendant_co.html to find other Cendant
> companies. You will NOT be happy with how you have been doing business
> with folks like this --- I promise you.
>
> These scams are more likely to rip off folks less involved in genealogy
> than most recipients of this msg. Most of us will recognize it for what
> it is and trash it. That does not relieve us of the responsibility of
> making it more difficult for these and other parasites within our
> community to enjoy their ill-gotten gains. I have found far too many
> that "don't want to get involved", "Didn't happen on my watch." (to use
> an old Navy excuse), running from controversy and responsibility. Let
> us unite in eradicating those that are behind an obvious attempt to
> profit unethically from the popularity of genealogy.
>
> Joe Sissom

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• [MONEWTON-L] Rip-offs of the genealogy community by Juanetta Powers <>