TXBELL-L Archives

From: "Joe D. Deaver" <>
Subject: [TXBELL] Genealogy Scams: Public Service Announcement
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2003 19:27:03 -0500

POSTED BY PERMISSION OF THE LIST ADMIN
(Please consult me before posting off-topic)

For the benefit of the new crop of amateur genealogy researchers that are
making their way onto the web, I post alerts a couple of times a year
concerning genealogy scams. There are some in particular that charge
unsuspecting people for accessing genealogy data which is on the web
external to their website. A lot of this data in on Rootsweb free of
charge, thanks to the generous efforts of volunteers on the USGenWeb
network. Please do not get suckered into paying for something that you can
accessing directly without charge. There have been many reports of people
paying and not receiving access, getting charge multiple times, or not able
to get a refund. Without exception, do NOT give someone your credit card or
bank info for a "free trial".

I just received my latest spam from genseekers.com. These people harvest
e-mail addresses off the various genealogy message boards and blanket their
spam to a specific audience. In the past, this company has set up shop
under the following web domains:

genealogydevelopments.com
familydiscovery.com
genealogyfinders.com
genealogyfinders.net
aboent.com
genlocator.com
genseeker.com
genseekers.com
genealogy-express.com
family-express.com

Typically, they will use a "free" type e-mail address like Juno, Yahoo, or
Hotmail. By the time you write to them, the e-mail address has been shut
down for spam abuse. The web domain moves around between hosting providers
for the same reason. If you are doing ethical business, why the need for
the dodge and why do they get chased off from their providers?

For more information about this scam and other similar situations to be wary
of, check the following resources:

http://www.tedpack.org/scams.html
http://www.cyndislist.com/myths.htm
http://forums.baddealings.com/t1187.html
http://blacksheep.rootsweb.com/shame/index.html
http://www.censusdiggins.com/familydiscovery.html
http://www.genealogyforum.rootsweb.com/gfnews/february02/random110202.htm
http://genealogy.about.com/library/weekly/aa101501d.htm
http://www.desmoines.bbb.org/commonreport.html?compid=17002492

I hope this proves helpful and prevents some of our "newbies" from being
victimized. Be careful out there.

Joe D. Deaver
TXBELL Coordinator
http://www.rootsweb.com/~txbell

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• [TXBELL] Genealogy Scams: Public Service Announcement by "Joe D. Deaver" <>