Fraudulent Books, Websites, Genealogical Scams & More

Fraudulent Books/Research

Fraudulent Websites / Companies

Genealogy Scams

This page is here to inform you about scams involving research repositories, books, or people claiming to do research they don't or can't possibly provide. If you know of such websites, companies, publications, etc., please feel free to submit a link or article.

Key tips to avoid being scammed can be found all over the internet. The one we should all be aware of is, "If it sounds too good to be true..."

One of the main tips is to pay attention to the wording of a website. For instance if there is absolutely no customer service link or a toll free number, then beware.

NEVER give out your credit card or bank account number without first researching the company. The World Wide Web is invaluable in this instance because you can find customer reviews about almost everything. So if a new website comes online, do your research about the site before you use the site.

No company will ever send you an email asking you for your user name or password. If you ever get an email that comes from a company that you do frequent, that says your account is in jeopardy, go straight to the website by typing in the web address or using the link that you always use, NEVER click on the links in the email. These links are usually directed to another website; you can put your cursor over the link and the real website address should appear in a pop-up text box.

If you get an email invitation to a website, look at the sender's email address. Profession sites do not use free accounts like Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, nor do they use common providers like Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, Alltel, etc. All legitimate websites use an email address associated with the website itself.

Also, email addresses can be "ghosted" so check your email properties, there you will find IP addresses from where the email originated and you can take that IP address (a set of numbers separated by periods) and search it online to find the location and usually the internet provider (ISP) of the e-mail's origination. If this website is supposedly based in America but the email originated from India, then I would be suspect.

Although this is not a fraud, many people refuse to use websites like Ancestry.com because of the family trees online that have so many mistakes. Keep in mind, many of these people who upload these trees do so in order to get these mistakes corrected. The only way they can is to put it online. Their intent is NOT to provide bad data, but to find someone who can help them correct their material. However, there are many more people out there who are novices at research and attach their line to a particular family that they are not related to; this is not done in malice, it's done because of inexperience. But there are people out there who refuse to change their data no matter how hard you try. Don't concern yourself with these people, the best thing you can do is point out this material in your research notes to prevent others from falling victim to the bad research. Some people just want to be connected to George Washington as their great-great-great-great grandfather even though he never had children.

You also have to remember that some people are very sensitive about their family history and refuse to believe that anything "bad" happened or was perpetrated by their ancestors; such as illegitimate births or murders. In my research I have found quite a few people who have the wrong lineage and I have learned that it does not do any good to argue with such people. Let them know your thoughts and then let it alone. I have come across this a lot in African-American research these families relied on word-of-mouth histories because their ancestors did not appear in public records; stories are all they have to go by. This "word-of-mouth" history can be hard to dispel with many families, you shouldn't try to force the issue; let your ideas be known, and let the family research the matter themselves, some come around, others do not.