There is a website 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 website 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 website disappeared recently, apparently being shut down by
the Internet service provider that hosted the online "service" after
complaints by many users. However, a new website has recently appeared, operating
a site that looks like FamilyDiscovery.com but under a different name. It appears
that the owner of the new website is the same person who owned the earlier one.
The new website is Genealogy-Developments.com.
The new webite 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
website and without paying $44.95. If you read the fine print at 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 www.cyndislist.com. Of course,
Cyndi’s List is free of charge.
There are a couple of "watchdog sites" that watch for
websites like FamilyDiscovery.com and Genealogy-Developments.com. The International
Blacksheep Society of Genealogists maintains a "Genealogy Hall of Shame"
at: blacksheep.rootsweb.com/familydiscovery.htm.
The Watchdog Committee maintains the "Genealogical Web Site Watchdog"
at: www.ancestordetective.com/watchdog.htm.
You might also want to check Cyndi’s List at: 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: here
and here.
Dick Eastman Online
