Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

New Scam Alert using Social Security Numbers

A false email claiming to be sent by the Social Security Administration is currently being circulated. The letter begins with "Dear Social Security Number And Card owner." It goes on to inform the reader that someone is illegally using their Social Security number and directs the victim to a phony website designed to look like the Social Security Administration's website.

Once on the website, the victim is asked to verify their identity by providing a Social Security number and financial information such as a credit card number, expiration date, and PIN number.

The "alert" is bogus and has one purpose: to steal your Social Security Number. Don't fall for this one.

Why Am I Getting All These Messages from Tagged?

In the past few weeks, I have received dozens of messages from many different people claiming that they "sent you photos on Tagged" or that they “sent you a private message on Tagged." Then these e-mail messages ask, "Want to see the photos?" or “Want to read the message?” I now receive four or five of these messages a day.

In most cases, I have never heard of these people, and I certainly couldn't care less about their pictures or their private messages. A quick search on Google produces the answers, however. It seems that Tagged is a questionable business that surreptitiously steals address books from people and sends e-mail messages to everyone in that address book. Someone apparently had my e-mail address in their address book when they visited Tagged.com, and my e-mail address was stolen and then used without the knowledge of the hapless victim.

Video Focuses on Victims of a Genealogy E-Mail Scam

"HCommerce: The Business of Hacking You," is as a documentary online video (sponsored by McAfee) in five segments posted every two weeks at www.stopHcommerce.com, which puts the focus on a family that lost $400,000 in a complex genealogy-related e-mail scam.

The Spears family of Portland, Oregon, lost about $400,000 when Janella Spears fell for the scam promising the lost fortune of a dead relative, J.B. Spears, in Africa. The documentary tells how Janella Spears, avidly interested in genealogy, was convinced the lost fortune of J.B. Spears was out there as the crime group going after her money even showed her a death certificate for him.

World Wide Web? or Wild, Wild West?

It feels like the Old West. Bandits are creating false trails to draw unsuspecting travelers into an ambush. No, this is not a John Wayne film at the local theater. It is a modern-day bandit, and the story is playing out in your computer.

PandaLabs said on Wednesday that "cyber-criminals" are setting up fake search engines all around the Internet. All of these engines direct any search you make to pages loaded up with malware. These modern bandits create false search engines to snare people looking for "swine flu" information, as well as any sort of celebrity gossip. You may see pop-up ads enticing you to use these "search engines." Once you go to these false search engines and click on any link, malware is downloaded to your computer. Much of the malware redirects you to porno sites.

Beware the "Grandparent Scam"

Police are warning the public to be vigilant against the “Grandparent Scam,” also called the “Emergency Scam.” This scam has been around for years but seems to have become more popular in the past year or so.

The typical scenario for this fraud is a grandparent receives a phone call from a con-artist claiming to be one of his or her grandchildren. The caller says they are in some kind of trouble – usually a car accident, trying to return from a foreign country, or they need funds to pay bail – and need money immediately. The caller specifically asks the victim to not contact other relatives because the caller doesn't want to “get in trouble” with other family members. Wanting to help their grandchild, the victim sends money electronically, usually through a form of money transfer.

Update: Bogus E-mail Warning Messages

This is an update to my earlier article "Bogus E-mail Warning Messages" that is available at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/12/bogus-e-mail-wa.html.

I found the following e-mail message in my "spam folder" today. First of all, I never heard of CommonWealth Bank and do not know where they are located. I am certain that I do not have an account there. Next, the message starts of with a greeting of "Dear customer" while I would have expected it to say "Dear Richard Eastman" or "Dear Mr. Eastman."

Finally, clicking on the link that is labeled "click here" took me to a web site that is NOT a part of Commonwealth Bank. It took me to a web address ending in ".ua" which means that the site is registered in the Ukraine although it might be physically located someplace else.

Bogus E-mail Warning Messages

This article has nothing to do with genealogy. However, it contains information that I believe every Internet user should know.

A newsletter reader sent an e-mail message to me today with a statement that caught my eye:

"There was a problem with Paypal. They advised that someone had tried to access my account."

My first reaction is that the notice was bogus. PayPal never sends such messages.

Update: Scam: An Online Anti-virus Scan

On October 17, I wrote an article about some "scareware" that I had encountered online. In short, I described a certain web site that lies to you in an attempt to sell you some worthless anti-virus software. The full article is still available at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/10/scam-an-online.html.

I was pleased to read today that the Federal Trade Commission got a court order to at least temporarily halt the "scareware" scheme.

Scam: An Online Anti-virus Scan

This stuff should be outlawed. A certain web site lies to you in an attempt to sell you some worthless anti-virus software.

I recently visited a new web site I had not seen before. A pop-up window appeared and warned that my computer system might be infected with a virus. It asked if I wanted to perform a virus scan. I dislike pop-up ads and never buy anything from such obnoxious advertising methods. I clicked on "Cancel." The system seemingly ignored my cancel request and then appeared to launch a disk scan of my system. Three or four seconds later, the "disk scan" completed, and dire warnings appeared with lots of words in a bright red font. The pop-up was labeled as an "Online Windows security scanner," and it claimed that my computer was infected with viruses.

Watchdog Eyes 140 'Scam' Websites, Including Genealogy Sites

The Australian consumer watchdog is investigating 141 Australian websites suspected of scamming the public following an international sweep of the internet conducted by consumer protection agencies yesterday.

The suspicious sites include those providing genealogy/family history services, online DNA testing, lotteries, premium mobile services and arbitrage betting providers, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said.

The Dark Side: Genealogy Rip-Offs Listed

Ninety-nine percent of the businesses that sell products and services to genealogists are legitimate companies that work hard at supplying the best products possible. This article will focus on the other 1%.

It seems that scam artists have been around forever in the world of genealogy. They existed centuries ago, and they exist today. I have written about a number of them in past newsletters, and you may encounter still more such scams if you use any modern Internet search engine.

As a convenience for newsletter readers, I am compiling a list of alleged genealogy scams. In short, this list will be updated as often as necessary and will contain the name and web site of each company that reportedly delivers less than what they advertise to the genealogy marketplace. Whenever possible, the listing will include a link to other web pages where the reader may find further details. These are the web sites and e-mail messages that generate the majority of messages that I receive from concerned newsletter readers.

Potentially Fraudulent Sites Posing as Genealogy Websites

Writing in the Ancestry.com blog, Mike Ward is warning other genealogists of fraudulent web sites posing as genealogy sites. These sites take your credit card information and provide little in return.

Mike writes:

Fraudster Pretends to be a Genealogist to Steal Identities

New Zealander Kevin Anthony Osborne had a lucrative scam going. He applied to District Courts for birth certificates, sometimes ordering large amounts of data, claiming he was conducting genealogy research. He looked for males with birth dates near his own who had died. He then assumed their identity, applied for admission at various universities, and then applied for student loans.

“A couple of occasions they wrote to the courts saying they were conducting a genealogy research, and could they have the birth certificates for x amount of people, and they were subsequently supplied with them,” says Detective Sergeant Nigel Hughes, from Christchurch police.

How Much Does an Inkjet Printer Really Cost?

Inkjet printers are really cheap these days. Or are they? To be sure, local computer stores sell inkjet printers for $29.99 (see BestBuy's site for one such example). You can't get much cheaper, right? Well, sort of. In fact, I purchased a Macintosh computer last year, and Apple even included a “free” inkjet printer. You can't get much cheaper than free.

However, all printers have hidden costs in the form of ink or toner. In fact, most manufacturers lose money on the sale of the printers but make huge profits on the sale of inkjet cartridges. Would you believe that the “low cost” inkjet printer you use is consuming ink at the rate of roughly $3,000 a quart? That's a higher price than the very best cognac or ladies' perfume!

Update: Own a Piece of the Scottish Highlands?

This article is an update of one that first appeared in the November 18, 2002 issue of this newsletter. It seems that little has changed in past four and a half years.

Clett Island is situated on Loch Dunvegan in the heart of the Scottish Highlands. The island has a long history, witnessing several of Scotland's historic events. Previous owners of the island include Olave the Black (a Norwegian warlord) in 1200 A.D., the MacDonald clan, their rivals the MacLeods, as well as popular 1960s folk singer Donovan. There is no source of fresh water on the island. There is no regularly-scheduled boat service, and there is no place to land an airplane, other than perhaps a helicopter. The island remains deserted today.

Richard Haigh, the present owner of the island, decided to sell the uninhabited island. Claiming that he wishes to preserve the past, Haigh is selling small plots on Clett Island as "Heritage Land Plots." His advertising is mostly aimed at Americans and Canadians, apparently appealing to those of Scottish descent. However, the Scottish National Parliament (SNP) claims that the deeds issued are not worth the paper they are written on.

Improve Your Passwords

I had a recent conversation with a newsletter reader about passwords. The reader was asking about identity theft and the security of passwords. The person worried that a hacker could crack a password that consists of a family name or a pet's name or some similar word. I agree with her. Never use a single word or name to protect something you value.

Security experts will tell you to always use passwords that are non-words. Instead, all passwords should be lengthy and should also be a jumble of letters and numbers, such as:

iltstwan7daw

I've Been Ripped Off! Have You?

I have been ripped off, and so have a number of other genealogy authors. A sharp-eyed newsletter reader passed along a web site address that is in serious violation of copyrights. It seems that Genealogy, Hunt for Ancestors at http://www.targetdates.com is copying articles from this newsletter and other genealogy blogs. The articles are being posted on http://www.targetdates.com without permission of or credit to the original authors. It appears that the owner of Genealogy, Hunt for Ancestors hopes to generate a profit by attracting people to the site and then displaying Google ads to them.

If you write a genealogy blog, you might want to visit http://www.targetdates.com to see if your articles are being republished without permission.

MorphCorp Settles in the Case of Deceptive Genealogy "Books"

MorphCorp is a Denver-based company that for years has produced International (Surname) Family Yearbooks. Insert your name in place of (Surname). For instance, when publishing a book claiming to be about my family, they would call it the "International Eastman Family Yearbook." If publishing about the Clark family, they would call it the "International Clark Family Yearbook."

These so-called books were not worth the paper they were printed on. You can read the review of these books that I wrote eighteen months ago at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2004/07/international_s.html. Now Colorado' s Attorney General John W. Suther has gone after the company and stopped the scam.

Does This Genealogy Site Sell Your Information?

A newsletter reader posed a question this week:

The small historical society I belong to received the following email. Do you know anything about this group? I don't want to see us get hit by one of the genealogy scams.

In fact, I didn't know anything about the site at www.FamilyTrackers.com, so I decided to investigate.

Check Washing

This article has nothing to do with genealogy. However, it is a follow-up to an earlier article I wrote when someone questioned the safety of credit cards versus checks when making purchases online from an online genealogy vendor.

How would you like to hand someone a blank check? Pretty dumb, right? Well, you are doing just that if you send a check in the mail or hand a check to someone in a store.